Thirty Hands
by Amethyst Turtle
Summary: Can you handle 30 days of morbidity, placidity, and a touch of dark humor? Well, I can't, but I claimed Robin anyways for the 30 onepiece challenge. Complete!
1. Prince

So... um... yeah. I feel like a total newbie and I'm afraid of doing something wrong, even though that's probably impossible.

(From the 30_onepiece community on LJ, set #03)

* * *

**Title: **Stupid Fantasies

**Theme: **#1- Prince

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **581

**Rating: **K+ (just in case small children can't handle teh angst)

**Warnings: **Angst? Spoilers for her past? Yeah, this takes place during her childhood, so... BEWARE! Or something like that.

**Disclaimers: **Do I _really _need a disclaimer? Puh-leaze.

* * *

The Tree of Knowledge was home to over a thousand books, and every single one of them was non-fiction. There were no silly romance novels or colorful children's books or anything of the sort. Of course, there were _mythologies_ that were most likely fictional, but they were mainly referenced to study the ancient cultures from where they originated.

Robin had found her first fairytale in the bookshelf of Aunt Roji's house. Roji, her husband, and Robin's cousin had gone out for dinner and left Robin to clean the house (as usual) and thanks to the child's newfound Devil Fruit powers, the job got done nearly twice as quickly.

Well, at least there was _something _good that came out of eating that damned fruit.

After drying the dishes, Robin found that the sun hadn't set yet. She went up to her tiny room (that resembled a walk-in closet more than anything) and sat down on her bed. The girl burned off a few idle minutes with making arms and legs sprout out of the wall. Soon she began to tire of this and wandered around the house. She didn't dare sneak a bit more food from the pantry even though she was still hungry.

"..." Robin looked out the window. There were a few townspeople going about on their business and down the road, the Tree of Knowledge stood over the island. Robin retreated away from the window before anyone could see her looking out at them.

On a whim, Robin began to look through her aunt and uncle's bookshelf, even though Roji would probably yell at her if she found out what Robin was doing. There were mainly cookbooks and old newspapers and such, but there was one frayed book at the end that caught Robin's attention. She pulled the book out and skimmed the cover.

_Ivory Snowflake and the Seven Hundred Midgets, _the title read. There was an illustration of a woman surrounded by many short men, inked in creamy colors and faded lines. It didn't look like anything the seven-year-old had even seen in the Tree of Knowledge.

And so, out of curiosity, Robin began to read.

She finished the book in four minutes flat.

Robin carefully put the book in its proper place and went back to her room. She layed down on her creaky bed and stared up at the dusty ceiling and began to think.

Ditsy princesses and wicked family members.

Brave princes and their noble steeds.

Evil witches and greedy queens.

It was uncanny how most of it resembled kingdoms from various ancient civilizations the seven-year-old had read about, but there was one thing that set them apart. A noble prince who would come to rescue the trapped princess. A single kiss that would solve _all _their problems. A happy ending with prancing midgets and a beautiful sunset.

Robin turned in her bed and closed her eyes. She didn't dwell further upon the fact of how much her own life resembled a fairytale princess's. After all, that was a fictional tale, and this was reality. Reality, in all it's gritty, terrible glory.

Besides, Robin knew better than to ever expect a prince to come rescue her.

Hoping was one thing, and dreaming was another.

* * *

AN: I swear I'll try to lay off the childhood angst and aim for a humor piece.  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	2. Baseball

And yeah. So, who's ready for the Strawhats to finally be reunited?

* * *

**Title: **That Creepy Lady Next Door

**Theme: **#2- Baseball

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **968

**Rating: **K+

**Warnings: **AU. Miniature Strawhats. Scary neighbor lady. Yeah.

**Disclaimers: **No. Just no.

* * *

"LUFFY YOU IDIOT!" Nami screamed, punching the other kid. "Why'd you throw it over the fence?!"

"I didn't aim good! I'm sorry!" Luffy cowered. The five children stood together in the middle of the cul-de-sac and looked at the fence where their ball had disappered. Usopp sniffled.

"Well, let's go inside." Zoro said, swinging his baseball bats over his shoulder.

"No! That's the ball that Bellemere gave me for my birthday last year. I'm _not _giving it up." Nami shook her head resolutely.

"How're we suppos'ta get it back, huh?" Zoro asked. "We can't. That's what."

"I heard a murderer lives in that house!" Usopp whispered, trembling.

"You're being stupid, Usopp." Sanji rolled his eye. "No one's even... seen who lives... there..."

"You see?!" Usopp said shrilly. "We can't go there! Nuh uh!"

"_I _am." Nami said resolutely. "That's my special baseball, and I'm getting it back."

"I'll come too!" Luffy chirped.

"Me too!" Sanji said eagerly.

"I don't have anything better to do..." Zoro muttered. He turned to the other boy. "Usopp, how'bout you?"

"Nooooo!" Usopp insisted. "No way in heck!"

"We'll just hop the fence, get my ball, and leave. It's not that big of a deal, chicken." Nami rolled her eyes. Usopp sighed and nodded. The five children marched towards the crooked, peeling fence, stepping over tangled grass and spiny weeds. Sanji boosted Nami over before climbing up himself. Luffy scrambled over, creating a tear in his shorts in the process. Zoro heaved the trembling Usopp up the fence and followed, setting his baseball bats down in the bushes.

The yard was surprisingly well-kept, a stark contrast from the messy front lawn and aging fence. There was a stone trail that snaked in between trees that threw dark shadows across bright flowers and trimmed grass. The side of the house had been repainted and there was a swing on the porch that creaked gently in the breeze. The bushes lining along the opposite side of the yard were neat and round.

"This doesn't look like a murderer's- oomph!" Sanji was cut off when Nami slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Keep it down!" Nami hissed. Sanji nodded and the girl removed her hand. Their bare feet patted along the trail as they searched for the baseball.

"This is really creepy..." Usopp whimpered. There were stone carvings of hands beside the trail, making it appear as if there were people reaching up from below the dirt.

"Is that so?"

"KYAAAA!" Nami shrieked. Sanji immediately threw himself in front of her protectively as Zoro reached for his baseball bats, only to realize he had left them outside the fence. Luffy jumped a little in surprise and Usopp fell to the ground, feigning unconsciousness.

A woman had been standing in the shadow of one of the trees the entire time, watching the five children sneak into her yard.

"IT'S A LADY!" the blonde boy shouted in surprise, still holding onto Nami protectively.

"MURDERER!!" Usopp screamed, breaking his facade.

"MYSTERY?" Luffy shouted.

"Moron." Zoro smacked Luffy, having calmed down already. He looked up at the shadowed figure. "We want our baseball back. Give it."

"This one?" the woman produced a ball from behind her and tossed it up and down in one hand, almost tantalizingly.

"G-give it back!" Nami stammered, pulling herself away from Sanji.

"I'm afraid I can't." the woman calmly said.

"Why not?!" Nami asked indignantly, forgetting her fear for a moment.

"Well, you _are _trespassing. You also trampled some of my flowers." the woman nodded to the crushed trail that the children had created when they hopped the fence.

"So we'll replant them. Just give the ball back, lady!" Zoro said.

"Tch. How rude." the woman shook her head, smiling.

"Yeah! You're rude!" Sanji kicked Zoro in the shin. Zoro growled and the two boys began wrestling.

"So do you have bodies in your fridge?" Luffy asked curiously.

"LUFFY!!" Usopp yelled shrilly.

"Well, that depends..." the woman put a finger to her chin thoughtfully, still tossing the baseball in her other hand carelessly.

"MURDERERRRR!!" Usopp screamed.

"I'm just kidding." the woman laughed. She dropped the ball and it rolled directly to Nami's feet. "Here's your ball back."

"Th-thanks." Nami whispered. She picked the ball up and crammed it into her pocket.

"So what's up with those rock thingies?" Usopp asked, gaining courage. He pointed to the carved hands by the trail that seemed to be reaching up to them.

"Oh, those aren't statues. Those are real hands."

"..." Sanji and Zoro stopped midfight, frozen comically with Zoro's hand around Sanji's neck and Sanji's foot planted in Zoro's gut. Nami exhaled sharply and Usopp squeaked in fear.

"MYSTERY HAAANDSSS!!!" Luffy wailed as the other four children quickly dragged him along with them as they fled the yard, scrambling hastily over the fence.

Robin chuckled as the long nosed boy's screams of terror faded away.

It looked like she was making a great first impression in the neighborhood already.

* * *

AN: Robin would be the first I would accuse of having bodies in her backyard. Just saying. -3-  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	3. Illusion

Beware the angst. For realz, yo.

* * *

**Title: **The Extermination

**Theme: **#7- Illusion

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **907

**Rating: **T

**Warnings: **Angst and depressing scenarios

* * *

_Paramecia Devil- 100,000,000 beri_

_Zoan Devil- 150,000,000 beri_

_Logia Devil- 300,000,000 beri_

Robin read the poster, her face completely blank. The seastone beneath her feet made her feel lethargic and tired, but as long as no one knew what she was, she would be safe. There were more posters surrounding the general pricing list, photos of various Devil Fruit users recorded in the WG's archives. Luckily for Robin, she wasn't included. They didn't know she even existed. Yet.

The woman pulled her hood further down over her eyes and slowly made her way down the street, past bums warming their blistered hands over trashcan fires and prostitutes lingering in the doorways of hazy bars. The city was a terrible place to be, but among so many people, it was the safest place to hide.

Robin eventually entered the rundown, abandoned part of the city where the buildings were nothing but iron skeletons and wild dogs roamed. She ducked under a rusty beam and entered one of the derelict buildings.

"Yaay! Robin's back!" a voice cheered from the shadows, bouncing off the concrete walls.

"Shush, Luffy! Don't be so loud!"

"Yohohoho..."

Robin made her way over scrap metal and dumped the bags of food before her companions, who were huddled together against a wall. The hunted Devil Fruit users found it safer to travel and hide together. But usually, Robin was the one left to go out to gather supplies since the other three were on the wanted list.

"Did you get meat?" Luffy asked eagerly, his eyes bright but his ribs showing. Robin shook her head.

"You know it's too expensive. And it's too risky if I try to steal."

"I wish they'd get rid of all that seastone out there. Even I can feel it all the way from here." Chopper shuddered, his fur bristling.

"These old bones can't take the stress much longer. We should move soon." Brook said, his kneecaps trembling. The four of them began to eat. Luffy whined when Chopper insisted on rationing the food.

"It's too dangerous if Robin goes out too often." Chopper said. "We have to stay hidden."

"We can't be _too _careful." Luffy pouted.

"Think of what happened to Ace." Robin quietly said. Luffy looked down at his grimy feet and slowly chewed on his bread. He said nothing more.

--X--

The next day, Robin risked another venture to the central part of the city to see if she could gather more information about the Devil hunters' route. The woman walked down the street, each step burning her feet and draining her energy.

There was a sudden clap of lightning that illuminated the gray squalor of the city.

"I AM GOD!" a voice roared. A figure descended from above, fingers crackling with lightning. Pedestrians froze and looked up. "I! AM! _GOD!" _

"Logia user." Robin muttered. Only a madman would dare show off his powers in a populated area. He might as well been asking for a death sentence. Robin ducked behind a newspaper stand.

"SEE MY POWERS? WHO WILL DARE TO CHALLENGE MY RIGHT TO FREE THE DEVILS?" the man roared again. He shot down a bolt of lightning at a man who tried to run away. The man screamed and convulsed in pain before collapsing to the seastone-sidewalk, his body smoking.

"THIS IS A NEW AGE! A NEW AGE OF _GOD!" _the Logia screamed again as the crowds began to panic and disperse. "_THE AGE OF THE DEVILS!"_

Sirens began to wail as the lightning man laughed with insanity. Armor-clad officials appeared out of nowhere and began to shoot. Immediately, the electricity died as if turned off by a switch and the Logia fell to the ground, blood pouring out of several wounds.

Seastone bullets.

Robin shivered and ran away before the Devil hunters could sweep the surrounding area and find her. She slid into a rundown cafe and hid there until the sound of the sirens faded away.

--X--

They were all gone. Luffy, Chopper, Brook, all gone. Her brothers were gone.

Robin fell to her knees as she stared at their hideout with horror, which had been cleaned out by the Devil hunters. There were fresh bloodstains in the entrance below the metal beam and the plastic bags she had carried the food in last night were fluttering sadly on the ground.

They had tried their hardest to pretend they didn't exist, that they were just mirages trying to survive in a dangerous world, but it wasn't enough.

She shouldn't have left. She was too late. Now she was alone again, in a world where Devil Fruit users were being hunted to extinction one by one. Robin gritted her teeth and pulled herself up, trying to see past the red haze that had spread over her vision.

And she ran blindly, not knowing or caring where she would end up next.

Someday, Robin knew, she would eventually die as well. And once every Devil Fruit user was exterminated from the world, the last of their memories would be nothing but ghosts fleeing in the polluted smoke, nothing but illusions that no longer exist.

* * *

It feels like I'm going to alternate between humor and angst, so beware.  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	4. Fire

Seriously, fave'n'runners, I have my eye on you. O_e

* * *

**Title: **Flammable and Unflappable

**Theme: **#3- Fire

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **507

**Rating: **T, for Sanji-isms.

**Warnings: **Sexual harassment of the love-cook kind.

* * *

In truth, it was all an honest accident. No one had intended any harm, and there was _no _harm done. Sort of. Well, Robin didn't kill Sanji in the end, so it was all good.

It had started with Franky trying to flambe a dish of ice cream. Of course, Sanji was trying to tell him that he was doing it all wrong.

"You shitty cyborg! You don't _light _it on fire, you're supposed to _add the alcohol _to it so it makes- are you even listening?!" Sanji shouted at Franky.

"Chill, cook-bro. This'll be super!" Franky said confidently, holding a frying pan with a lump of vanilla ice cream sitting in it. The rest of the crew was sitting around them. Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook were practically bouncing in their seats with excitement. Zoro had fallen asleep with his fork sticking out of his mouth and Nami looked for the most part, bored. Only the four boys and Robin seemed genuinely interested.

"You're doing it wrong, dammit!" Sanji ground his cigarette between his teeth. Franky ignored him and puffed out his chest.

"Stand back, bros!" Franky inhaled. Sanji kicked Franky in the shin (which had no effect on the cyborg) and stomped over to sit by Nami.

"FRESH FIIIIRE!!!" Franky blew out a stream of flames, igniting the ice cream. It seemed to literally explode, bursting into flames and sending a column of hot fire up into the night sky. When the flames finally died down, the ice cream had been reduced to a burnt puddle sitting in a red-hot pan.

"See, shitty cyborg? You did it _wrong_." Sanji smirked.

"Aw, well, I thought- OH CRAP! NICO ROBIN!" Franky dropped the pan on his foot and cursed. Everyone turned to look at the historian.

A spark must have touched her or something, because there was a small flame on her shirt that was steadily growing. Robin immediately stood up, but she didn't seem all that alarmed that her shirt had caught on fire. In fact, she didn't seem startled at all.

"AAH! STOP DROP ROLL! STOP DROP ROLL!" Usopp and Chopper shouted frantically.

"ROBIN!!!" Nami shrieked.

"I'LL SAVE YOU, ROBIN-CHWAN!" Sanji ran at Robin and tackled her to the ground.

"SANJI-KUN!" Nami yelled, this time angrily.

"YOOOOOHOO!!" Brook screamed, his hands on his cheekbones.

"Sanji's assaulting Robin! You gotta see!" Luffy tugged on Zoro's sleeve. Zoro woke up, spat out the fork, and glanced at Sanji, who was frantically trying to put out the fire while Robin attempted to push him off of her.

"Stupid pervert." Zoro muttered before closing his eyes again.

Nami had managed to snatch a glass of water from somewhere and threw its contents onto Robin. The fire was put out, but Sanji immediately began to bleed all over the archaeologist at the sight of her wet shirt riddled with holes from the flames.

"Cook-san..." Robin said uncomfortably, slightly grimacing. "Please get off..."

"Up you go, cook-bro." Franky yanked the frozen Sanji up with one hand and helped Robin stand up. Franky rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, Nico Robin. But, eh, no hard feelings, right?"

"Abadababadaba..." Sanji blubbered.

Robin glanced at both of them. "Well, no one was hurt-"

Zoro coughed loudly in his sleep.

"-so there's no harm done."

Franky had to steady Sanji when he began to sway, a dazed look on his pale face.

"All of you are idiots except for Robin." Nami said flatly.

* * *

Well, Sanji _was _trying to help...  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	5. Surprise

Crack pairings are always fun. :D

* * *

**Title: **The Healing Power of Knickers

**Theme: **#8- Surprise

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **946

**Rating: **K+

**Warnings: **AU BrookxRobin, one-sided. :3 SPREAD THE LOVE, Y'ALL.

* * *

One of the downsides to being born in nobility, Robin realized, was that she wasn't allowed to choose her husband. In fact, she didn't even want to marry at all. But, nonetheless, a gentleman from a neighboring state had decided to claim the young woman as his wife.

"Must I really leave?" Robin asked her mother despondently.

"The nobleman is offering a handsome sum for the bride price, too much to decline. And you know that if you do refuse, they will take offense and possibly start something." Olvia shook her head. "You'll be fine, Robin. Sir Brook is almost at the end of the time. Just one year, at most. _One _year."

Robin sighed. "I suppose."

--X--

The wedding had been extravagant, as expected to be from a nobleman as wealthy as Sir Brook, but Brook was anything but noble. All through the feast, he asked the same question over and over to his new, much younger wife.

"May I see your knickers?"

"No, Sir."

Only a few more months. Only a few more months. Only a few more-

"How about now, please?"

"No, Sir."

Only a few more months. Only a few more months. Only a few-

"Then perhaps I may borrow some money?"

"N- wait, pardon?"

--X--

Living with Sir Brook was... interesting, Robin decided. The old man was just about insane and spent most of the day singing and dancing, not something most nobility would dare to be caught doing. But he _loved _singing. So did the townspeople. Whenever Brook decided to go on an outing with Robin, the peasants would eagerly gather around Brook as the old man would spontaneously break out into song.

"Do you sing too, Miss?" a young lad with a long nose asked Robin eagerly. Robin had been trying her best to pretend she didn't exist as her husband pranced and twirled around a fountain. She leaned against a horse post and absentmindedly rubbed the mare's nose, causing the animal to whinny softly and nudge the woman's shoulder.

"No." Robin answered curtly.

"Ah, that's a shame." the lad said before turning away to cheer for the dancing nobleman.

Only a few more months. Only a few more months. Only a few more months.

"May I see your knickeeeeers?~" Brook sang to a few women in the crowd. The boy glanced at Robin, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Aren't you going to say something, Miss?" the lad asked nervously. "That's a scandalous thing for a married man to do!"

Robin shrugged. "He's practically senile. Let him go and show off his own knickerbockers if he wants to."

--X--

Robin had been exceedingly patient, putting up with her ancient husband's requests to see her undergarments and his random musical outbreaks for weeks. It all eventually paid off.

Brook began to develop a small cough, which grew into a fever, which worsened into a fully blown-out ailment that kept the singing old nobleman in bed. Then, one morning, Robin found herself sitting beside his bed as Brook slowly faded away.

"Yoho- ACK! HA-AACK! ACK! Yohoho." Brook wheezed. "Robin, my dear, may I see your knickers?"

"I'm sorry, but I must decline your request." Robin politely said.

"But I am- ACK! HACK! HAAAA-ACK!- dying." Brook said, putting his most pitiful expression on his gaunt, wrinkled face. The young woman sighed.

Robin lifted up her skirt just a fraction, allowing the old man to see just a fleeting glimpse.

And he was _revitalized_.

"YOHOHOHO!" the old man boomed, suddenly leaping out of bed and doing an upbeat jig on the carpet. "I AM ALIVE!"

"You're not sick." Robin said in a tiny voice.

"My youth! It had returned! My _youth!" _Brook cried. He swooped the shocked young woman up to her feet and began to swing her around. "Your knickers have healed me! I am HEALED! YOHOHOHO!"

"That's impossible." Robin said in that same tiny voice.

"I feel as if I'm fifty again! I shall have Doctor Chopper examine me, but I insist that I am HEALED!" Brook laughed giddily.

Robin's eye twitched and she resisted the urge to strangle herself.

--X--

"Well, that's odd. It's as if his illness has just mysteriously vanished! Just like that!" the short, chubby doctor said in surprise, examining his notes. "Sir Brook is well and healthy again!"

"Are you sure? It may be benign, or dormant, or... or... cancer." Robin said. "Yes, it may be cancer."

"Ummm... no, I didn't detect anything of the sort." Doctor Chopper said. "He's as healthy as a horse. Odd, but true. It must be a miracle!"

"A miracle." Robin said vaguely.

"I expect Sir Brook to live another good twenty or thirty years!"

"Twenty or thirty years." Robin repeated.

"Yohohoho! Happy days!~" Brook sang, pulling the young woman to his skinny chest. "Isn't that wonderful, Robin my dear?"

"Wonderful." Robin said blankly.

* * *

Robin torture is unique in its own way because she always wins. Always. Except for this one.  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	6. Master

The length of these are probably going to get progressively shorter and shorter until I'm desperately clinging to the 100 limit.

**

* * *

Title: **Who's in Control

**Theme: **#22- Master

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **328

**Rating: **K+

**Warnings: **Interpret it whatever you want it to be. BUT THERE IS NO CONTEXT!

* * *

As long as Robin could remember, she had always been the one in control. Sure, the rouges she associated with thought themselves to have power and authority over her, but Robin was merely playing along with them, fooling them into a false sense of security and arrogance with watery eyes and trembling limbs. The arrogance of believing they had control over the Demon Child herself. How pitiful.

The fools never had any idea of the cold, ruthless killer they were truly dealing with. They had no idea of the scared child merely fighting to survive beneath that hard exterior, either, but Robin preferred to hide that part of her life away from the world. The world wasn't going to hesitate to kill a wanted criminal, even if she was just a child.

Robin had successfully mastered the art of self-preservation, never even giving a thought about the people she killed. She was always in control, the master of the unwilling meat shields that took the Marine bullets for her. Everything about her screamed dominance- the way she held her head so high, electric eyes coldly gleaming, the subtle movement of her slender fingers that would wrap around an unfortunate bastard's neck, harshly breaking the life out of him.

That was, until Crocodile entered her life. The Shichibukai simply emanated power, intimidation, aggression. Suddenly, Robin felt _weak_. She had never dealt with a Logia before, much less a man who could casually run his hook through her eye if he felt like it. And suddenly, Robin was no longer in control.

It was a terrible, unfamiliar feeling of being so damn vulnerable. Certainly Robin had held up her own resistance, occassionally skirting around orders or smoothly talking back at Crocodile. But the fear of _knowing _that Crocodile was the master still hung heavily in her chest.

So that was what submission felt like.

* * *

Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	7. Betrayal

In the original order, this one went before the last one... but it doesn't really matter, does it.

* * *

**Title:** What's Truth and Lies

**Theme:** #27- Betrayal

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **234

**Rating: **K+ or T, I really don't know.

**Warnings: **If you close your eyes and look away from the monitor, there might be a little CrocxRobin. Maybe.

* * *

****

By now, Robin would have expected that she would be numb to the constant betrayal and lies. Over and over again, for twenty years, countless of people had lied. They said they would protect her, give her food, shelter, a _life_.

It was never that way.

Robin had lied to _herself_, believing that she simply didn't care anymore that no one wanted her. She had pretended as hard as she could that she didn't give a damn that everyone was out to kill her.

Was it so wrong that she still felt a stab of pain whenever someone betrayed her? Was it so wrong that all Robin wanted was someone she could _trust_?

Of course, in this case, the stab of pain was real. There was real blood, and a real wound, and soon there'd be a real scar that would never go away.

And no matter how many times she insisted to herself that she had expected it for these four years, Robin could still feel the pain- no, not the pain from the hook- of _knowing _that Crocodile was yet another heartless bastard who betrayed her. He had promised her food, shelter, protection...

It wasn't _supposed _to hurt anymore, that sharp pang whenever someone betrayed her. Robin was _supposed _be... used to it. Accustomed. Numb. Uncaring. Whatever.

But, Robin supposed, no one could ever be used to being hated by the world.

* * *

Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	8. Swan

:D

* * *

**Title: **The Morbid Facts of Life

**Theme: **#23- Swan

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **151 (I'm getting lazier and lazier...)

**Rating: **K+/T

**Warnings: **None, I suppose.

* * *

Nami leaned back against the bench, smiling contentedly. The town was relatively peaceful and had a park to boot, with beautiful flowers and trees and a pond with birds gliding along the surface.

"This place is great!" Nami said.

"It's nice." Robin nodded in agreement.

"Oooh! Look, swans!" Nami gasped, pointing to a couple large, snowy white birds drifting on the water. "They're so pretty!"

"They're actually very aggressive."

"Really?"

"Yes. They can break your neck with their wings or stab your eyes out with their beaks. Swans are very territorial and it's best to avoid them entirely."

"But they're still pretty."

"Said the fly before being eaten alive by a Venus Flytrap."

Nami slumped down on the bench and crossed her arms. She glowered at Robin from the corner of her eyes. "Way to ruin the mood there, Robin."

Robin looked back at her innocently. "Was it something I said?"

* * *

Someday, maybe, I'll write one that's at least 1000 words.  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	9. Casino

Yes! I finally fixed the scene dividers!

* * *

**Title: **Nami's Excellent Plan of Fail

**Theme: **#6**- **Casino

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **622

**Rating: **T

**Warnings: **I'm not a professional on breaking in or grand theft, so bear with me here and just pretend that the scenarios are plausible for the sake of entertainment.

* * *

"Guys, we are going to rob a casino." Nami announced at the dinner table. Everyone froze to stare at her.

"You're kidding, right?" Franky asked.

"We're pirates! It's perfectly natural to pull off a few heists now and then, isn't is?" Nami shot back.

"Where the hell are we going to find a casino?" Zoro grumbled.

"The next island, which I happened to pick up info about at our previous stop." Nami grinned, snapping open a brochure she had procured from her pocket. "Apparently the security's pretty loose there, so it shouldn't be too hard. But no big explosions! Big explosions always attract the Marines!"

"Nami-swan is so breathtaking when she's planning a robbery!" Sanji noodled.

"... Okay then." Nami nodded at Sanji and leaned in closer. "Here's the plan..."

--X--

It turned out that security _wasn't _loose, to Nami's disgust. She had the crew split up into several teams. Zoro, Robin, and Sanji were to accompany Nami to take care of any security guards at vault. Usopp and Franky went about disabling the Den Den Mushi receivers, and Luffy, Chopper, and Brook stayed on the ship since they weren't particularily interested in the heist and Luffy was more interested in eating all the leftovers from the previous night.

"Wait a minute- where'd Robin go?" Nami glanced around. They had managed to get into an employees-only area unnoticed. While they were busy sneaking past security guards (which was quite hard since Zoro and Sanji kept bickering), Robin must have silently slipped away.

"She probably got lost." Zoro shrugged.

"_You're _the one who gets lost, shitty marimo!" Sanji yelled.

"Quiet!" Nami hissed. Sanji quickly nodded and Zoro grumbled under his breath.

--X--

"You got all of them, Nose-bro?" Franky asked, his hands full of antennae and receivers he had broken off of Den Den Mushi shells.

"I think so." Usopp said. "Well, except for that... one..." He looked up at a Surveillance Den Den Mushi, which was staring back at him. It began waving its stubby arms around.

"Crap! They see us!" Franky shouted, dropping all the receivers. He began to remove the skin off his fist, but Usopp stopped him.

"Nami said no explosions!"

"Well, Girlie ain't here!"

"She'll kick your ass later, either way!"

"Oh yeah..." Franky pondered over this. "RUN!"

--X--

"YOU MORON!" Nami screamed. "YOU CUT UP ALL THE MONEY!"

"YOU TOLD ME TO CUT OPEN THE SAFE!" Zoro roared back.

"WITHOUT DAMAGING THE MONEY INSIDE OF IT!"

"STOP YELLING AT NAMI-SAN!"

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS, ERO-COOK!"

Hey!" Nami, Sanji, and Zoro turned to see a group of security guards glaring at them, weilding clubs. "You people aren't supposed to be here!"

"YOU GUYS STAY OUT OF THIS TOO!" Zoro and Sanji yelled, attacking the guards. Nami groaned and walked out, seeing as Zoro had sliced up all of the casino's stored money.

--X--

Several minutes later, the five of them managed to meet up again in front of the casino with angry security guards in tow, most of which sported bruises and blackened eyes and now held guns.

"Where's Robin?" Nami screamed, sprinting away.

"I didn't see her!" Franky shouted back.

"I'm telling you, she got lost!" Zoro insisted.

"SHUT UP, IDIOT!" Sanji yelled.

"They're shooting at uuuus!" Usopp wailed.

"You guys made it back! Did you bring anything?" Luffy asked as they boarded the ship.

"No, because _someone _chopped up all the cash!" Nami glared at Zoro.

"How unfortunate." Brook said. He glanced over their heads. "Why are those people shooting at us?"

"Crap! We gotta lift anchor!" Franky ran to the front of the ship.

"But where's Robin?" Nami shouted in frustration.

"She's right there." Chopper timidly said, pointing to Robin lounging on a deck chair with a book in hand. "She came back just a few minutes ago."

"Robin!" Nami stomped over to the relaxing woman. "You bailed on us!"

"Not exactly." Robin looked up at Nami. She blinked. "Your little operation was a failure, I presume?"

"If you helped us, we might have actually gotten some money!" Nami tried not to cry. The ship began to move as she spoke, the sound of angry shouting at the edge of the pier already beginning to gradually fade. "What the hell were you doing all that time?"

"Gambling." Robin nodded to the two enormous sacks of cash sitting beside her.

"I LOVE YOU, ONEE-SAN!" Nami embraced Robin before running to their cabin with the sacks of money in her arms, laughing giddily all the way.

* * *

You know, the lack of Robin+Nami in the archives greatly disappoints me. The abundance of Zoro/Sanji stuff only annoys me further. Where's the estrogen?  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	10. Trap

Hm. I have a plot running through my head, so maybe I'll start working on another fic. Eventually. Or not.

* * *

**Title: **Messing With Mortal Morons

**Theme: **#28- Trap

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **905

**Rating: **T

**Warnings: **AU... and a possibly disturbing ending. And some Spandam bashing. Poor guy.

* * *

Once, in a forest in some distant land, there lived a man named Spandam. He didn't mind that he lived all by himself, or that his friends never bothered to visit often. After all, he was too busy making a living out of capturing rare creatures and selling them on the black market.

After his confidence and ego had increased some after catching a Kappa from the lake, Spandam stopped using cursed baits and lures and downgraded to normal bear traps and snares used for regular animals. Spandam didn't stop to consider that no magical creature would fall for such obvious traps, but then again, he considered those to be as dumb as any ordinary beast.

And so Spandam was stomping through the forest, knocking over saplings and cussing loudly whenever he stumbled over a tree root. All of his traps had been set off, but there were only squirrels and rabbits and bears caught in them.

Then he went to check on a wire snare he had set up beside the tallest oak tree in the forest and saw a woman with the wire cutting deep into her leg. Her right arm was hanging uselessly at her side, bleeding and shredded. She must have been attacked by a wild beast before managing to drive it away.

"What the hell?" Spandam thought out loud. The woman was casually leaning against the tree and was wearing some sort of animal fur. She didn't seem all that concerned that her leg and arm were bleeding heavily.

"Are you the one who set this trap?" the woman called, noticing the man gawking at her from the edge of the clearing.

"How can anyone be so stupid as to fall for a wire snare?" Spandam burst out laughing. "You're such an idiot!"

"I would think it unwise to mock a forest spirit." the woman's eyes flashed. Spandam stopped laughing. He had heard of the forest spirits, who lived in the trees of the mountain. Then he remembered that forest spirit blood was very valuable and sold at high prices in the potion market. Spandam grinned and bravely approached the trapped spirit.

"Put the knife away, mortal." the forest spirit rolled her eyes when Spandam took out his hunting knife.

"No way! I'm going to sell you for cash. I'll be set for life!" Spandam grinned. He held the knife to the woman's neck and prepared to slit her throat.

"Wait!" the forest spirit said loudly. "Don't kill me quite yet, mortal."

"Why not?" Spandam asked indignantly, moving the knife away.

"If you cut this wire away and spare me, I'll lead you to the Manticore's cave."

"What for?" Spandam demanded.

"Manticore fur is worth ten times as much as forest spirit blood. The teeth are also quite valuable."

"Hm..." Spandam frowned. He knew that the spirit was probably lying, but he reassured himself that if she was, he would just kill her on the spot. "Fine. Lead me to the Manticore, you stupid spirit!" He cut the wire away and the spirit began limping away into the forest. Spandam held his knife at the ready, the point directed at the back of her head.

"My name is Robin, by the way." the spirit said without turning around.

"Like I care! Walk faster!" Spandam barked. Robin smirked, unseen by the hunter, and continued limping.

--X--

"There. The Manticore's lair is up there." Robin said after an hour of hiking. Oddly enough, she was still fully conscious even though she had left a thick trail of blood from her wounds.

"Then I have no more need for you, forest spirit!" Spandam advanced towards Robin, knife held up. "I'll just kill you now and collect your blood. Maybe I'll also use your corpse to distract the Manticore. Haha! I'll be rich! Filthy rich!"

And with that, he stabbed his knife through the forest spirit's eye. She vanished in a poof of green smoke without a sound.

"D-damn it! Coward!" Spandam shouted up to the sky. "STUPID COWARD!"

"Mortals are so fun to mess with." Spandam looked up to see Robin sitting on a high branch, looking down at him.

"Hey! Get down here so I can cut your head off, forest spirit!" Spandam shouted.

"Oh, I'm not a forest spirit. Those delicate little things never come out of the trees. No, no, I'm a Maenad." Robin chuckled.

"What's the difference?" Spandam shouted, trying to climb the tree with little success.

"They never find their way to our territory. It's a shame, really." Robin said, ignoring Spandam. "Every time, I always have to send an illusion to guide one here."

"Illusion? What illusion?"

"Hm. You're a noisy one." Robin looked down at Spandam. "But it's dinnertime for my siblings. Too bad for you."

"The hell are you talking about?"

Robin glanced at the rocky cliffside. Shadows were beginning to drip down, vaguely shaped like people. They gathered around Spandam and materialized into a circle of men and women, all wearing animal furs and with hungry looks in their eyes.

"About time, Robin." a green-haired man growled. "I'm starving."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE?" Spandam screamed, suddenly very nervous. Robin dropped down from the branch and joined the circle.

"MEAT!" a younger Maenad shouted, leaping foward and sinking his sharp teeth into Spandam's arm. The hunter screamed and flailed as the boy growled. The circle advanced.

And Spandam the hunter was no more.

* * *

Sorry, Spanda. :3  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	11. War

I'm _really _sorry about not getting to review replies, so I'll go with one giant generic "THANK YOU!!!" to everyone who read and commented. :D  
It's another short chapter... I swear, the fifteenth chapter (or something) will be longer.

**

* * *

**

**Title: **One-woman Army

**Theme: **#14- War

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **236

**Rating: **T

**Warnings: **It's supposed to be like... a metaphor. I should pay more attention in English class.

* * *

She had been fighting for an eternity. The blood and sweat forever trickling down her forehead had blinded her and she had lost all sense of time long ago. But she at least vaguely knew that the years were slipping by and that her wounds were scabbing over and that they were winning.

How long would it be, she wondered, until my mind betrays me? Until I snap into insanity from the horror, until I give up and drop my weapons? How much time left do I have to live?

When will the blood in my eyes wash away? When will the fire die? When will I have a chance to finally sit down and rest my aching body?

I will not give up.

She wanted to sleep, but there was no opportunity to stop fighting. They were relentless, forever hammering at her defense, always chasing her.

She was a one-woman army, miraculously holding up the tattered, burned, ripped, blood-soaked flag of Ohara that fluttered sadly in the smoke.

We will not give up.

But where was the we?

After twenty years of carrying the flag, the one-woman army was ready to lay down the mark of her homeland and allow herself to be killed by the enemy ranks.

And then, finally, reinforcements arrived, raising the flag high again for all to see. The one-woman army was able to rest at last.

_Like hell we'll surrender._

* * *

Is the Document Manager acting weird for anyone else?  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	12. Rebel

I swear I'll get around to fixing the formatting for previous chapters (since asterisks have mysteriously disappeared)... and review replies. I really need to get to replying.  
So here's another big THANK YOU to everyone who read and commented. :D**

* * *

**

**Title: **Sassy

**Theme: **#30- Rebel

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **626

**Rating:** K+

**Warnings: **Crocodile or Robin _may _be OOC... and yes, this takes place during Baroque Works.

* * *

Crocodile was pissed, in simplest terms. He had told her to retrieve the reports from the Billions stationed at Whiskey Peak, but there had been no sign of her for two whole days. The task shouldn't have taken more than several hours, considering the speed of that giant turtle in the water.

He strolled through the halls of the hotel complex above Rain Dinners, planning to find Mr. 1 and order him to retrieve Miss All Sunday, wherever she was. Then Crocodile passed by an open door. He paused and backtracked.

There was Miss All Sunday, lounging on the bed with a book in hand.

"What are you doing, Nico Robin?" Crocodile growled, entering the room. "Did you carry out the errand?"

Miss All Sunday shrugged. "I must have forgotten."

"That was two days ago!" Crocodile raised his hook threateningly, but if his partner felt any fear, she didn't show it.

"Oh." Miss All Sunday continued reading her book. Out of frustration, Crocodile stabbed through the paperback with his hook and snatched it out of her hand.

"Go. Those damn Billions are still waiting." Crocodile ordered, pulling the book off his hook and ripping it to shreds with his hand. Robin watched him calmly and slowly began to put on her boots.

--X--

"He's uncannily similar to a PMSing woman." Robin said to Banchi on their way to Whiskey Peak. "Always griping about this and that, killing another Billion here and there..."

"Mmm?" Banchi looked back at her, his eyes sleepy and smoke from his giant cigar circling around his hat.

"But I suppose it's the stress. I know _I'm _not making it any better." Robin smirked.

"Mmm."

--X--

"Nico Robin! What the hell are you _doing_?" Crocodile towered behind Robin, but she didn't seem to notice. Much to the boss's annoyance, she wasn't wearing her uniform and instead opted for a casual shirt and jeans.

"I'm gambling. Isn't that obvious?" Robin asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Without your uniform?"

"No one else seems to mind." Robin shrugged. Indeed, no one gave the Vice President a second look, though some people were double-taking when they saw Crocodile.

"Go back to file the orders." Crocodile said. Robin knew he was referring to the Dance Powder. She pulled the lever of the slot machine and it spat out a handful of coins.

"I'm on a streak."

"I said NOW." Crocodile said threateningly, earning nervous looks from several people around them.

"Of course, Mr. 0." Miss All Sunday smirked, standing up. She reached for her bag of winnings but Crocodile stopped her with his hook.

"That's casino property."

"Which I'm the co-owner of."

"Your Baroque Works status doesn't extend to anything else." Crocodile lied.

"Oh? Well, that's a disappointment." Robin calmly said. She walked away.

--X--

"You forgot to feed the Bananadiles." Crocodile said without turning around as Miss All Sunday walked down the stairs, the sounds of the casino immediately being muffled once the door closed.

Robin glanced at the Bananadiles and saw one of them floating belly up. The other beasts were circling it, as if planning to eat their dead comrade.

"There's plenty of them left."

Crocodile disappeared in a breeze of sand and immediately reappeared behind Robin. He held his hook to her neck.

"If you continue defying my orders, I just might choose to break our bargain." Crocodile hissed. "After all, I don't necessarily need you to complete my plans."

Robin didn't answer for a few seconds. "Understood, sir."

"Good." Crocodile removed his hook and walked back to the aquarium glass to watch the Bananadiles. "Now go feed them and get rid of the dead Bananadile."

"It isn't their feeding time ye-" Robin caught Crocodile's murderous glare.

"...I'll go right away, sir." Robin quickly left.

* * *

I think this is one of my favorites.  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	13. Guard

Review Replies... I SWEAR I'll get to thanking you guys individually (as well as fixing my other stories' formats...) but I guess I'm just being much too lazy again. :(

**

* * *

**

**Title: **That Bodyguard Brown

**Theme: **#24- Guard

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **846

**Rating: **T

**Warning: **Death of an OC? Sure.

* * *

After the unfortunate death of the first Mr. 5 (who was quickly replaced by a skilled Devil Fruit user), Crocodile decided to throw in a little more caution to his "precious" subordinates' security and hire guards for the each of them.

Robin knew better. Mr. 0's true intentions of hiring the men were so they could function as scapegoats or bait or even a meat shield if any situation demanded it. But Robin didn't _want _a guard following her around all the time. Especially the one she got stuck with.

He was a broad man, tall and heavyset like a rhino and about as bright as one, perfect live bait. The guards weren't assigned codenames and were instead referred to by colors. The color guards. This guy was dubbed as Brown. Brown, like the color of his hair and eyes and the noodles dribbling down his brown shirt.

"And -munch- you know, -chew- if you don't watch for them, -slurp- they can be really tricky to beat." Brown said, putting his empty noodle bowl over his head. Miss All Sunday ignored him and instead concentrated on the back of Banchi's leathery head.

"Oi, Sunday? Ya hear me?" Brown tapped her shoulder roughly with a finger as thick as a sausage. "Those pirate guys can be real dangerous. We'd better watch out fer them."

"Quiet. Do not speak another word to me until we arrive at our destination." Miss All Sunday coldly said. Banchi huffed, smoke streaming above him like a locomotive.

"Bah." Brown muttered, crawling to the back of Banchi's shell to watch the fish swimming alongside him. Robin resisted the urge to push him into the water. Crocodile wouldn't be pleased to hear she killed yet another recruit.

It wasn't her fault most of them were so damn incompetent.

The island where Mr. 0 said the pirate crew was staying at was relatively empty. The shutters of the decrepit buildlings slammed open and shut in greeting to the Baroque Works agents and a lonely dog howled somewhere. The faint sound of raucous laughter drifted over from a saloon at the back of the street.

"Do not get in my way." Miss All Sunday ordered as they approached the bar.

"Hmph." Brown snorted, flexing his flabby muscles. The laughter and shouting subsided as Miss All Sunday entered in her much too revealing outfit, Brown lurking behind her like a bodyguard.

The first pirate who stood up immediately had his neck brutally snapped by limbs that sprouted from his chest and back. And all of hell broke loose.

"Raaaagh!" Brown roared, blindly charging at the armed pirates. Three more had already been incapacitated, thanks to Robin's silent attacks.

"I said do _not get in my way_!" Miss All Sunday shouted. She winced as a bullet barely grazed against her leg, but the pirates seemed to forget about her as Brown began to flail, his meaty fists whacking anyone who got too close.

"Oi! Someone get 'er!" a pirate shouted, noticing one of his companions falling, his head twisted at a grotesque angle. He glared at Robin and jumped out of the fray surrounding Brown.

Miss All Sunday waved an arm and six hands restrained the advancing pirate.

"Ragh!" Brown flew through the air and landed on the helpless man. Robin cried out as her duplicate arms were crushed beneath Brown's massive bulk.

"You-" Robin began to shout before a bullet whizzed past her ear. She quickly exited the panic of the bar, her arms throbbing.

Banchi's half-lidded eyes regarded Robin with disinterest as she hopped on his back, scowling. Before she could set off, Brown came charging down the street, the remaining pirates sprinting after him.

"Wait for me, Sunday!" Brown shouted. He leapt onto the turtle and Banchi groaned with the sudden weight. More bullets flew past them, some of them bouncing off of Banchi's shell.

"Let's go." Robin ordered to the giant turtle. Banchi quickly swam off, leaving the pirates angrily yelling after them.

"Well, that didn't go so well." Brown panted, blood trickling down his leg and a sword sticking out of his back, though he didn't seem to notice this. His left eye was blackened as well and his shirt had been cut up.

The Vice President didn't answer, her hat shadowing her eyes.

"Sunday?" Brown asked.

"You got in my way." Miss All Sunday quietly said, her voice deadly.

"Well, it ain't my fault I got thrown on that guy." Brown protested.

"I don't like it when people get in the way of my goals." the dark woman's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Sorry." the guard drawled.

Miss All Sunday silently crossed her arms.

--X--

"You didn't take care of those pirates I told you to capture." Crocodile said, idly twirling a cigar between his fingers.

"No." Miss All Sunday agreed.

"Where's that guard I put with you?" Crocodile asked disinterestedly.

Miss All Sunday held up her hands, which were caked in dried blood.

"Ah." Crocodile nodded.

The next day, all the color guards were dismissed from Baroque Works.

* * *

Robin was really cool as a villain. *-*  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	14. Goodbye

I'm so far behind in updating this. -_-

* * *

**Title: **Giant Hat

**Theme: **#15- Goodbye

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **528

**Rating: **K+

**Warning: **Not a warning, but there's no OCs in this one (thankfully)

* * *

Robin always found the dead hours of the night to be the most relaxing. It was the time when everyone else was fast asleep and the moon shined brightest. Even the obsidian waves seemed to calm down and rest, nestling against the side of the ship.

Something bumped against the ship. It was hardly a noticeable nudge, but Robin's alert senses detected the faint vibration. Robin sighed and stood up, allowing her blanket to fall from her shoulders. She set her book down and walked to the railing.

"... It's you." Robin said, looking down at the massive reptile swimming alongside the ship.

"Mmm."

"How did you find us all the way out here?" Robin asked, leaning against the railing.

"..."

"Hm." Robin rested her chin on her fist and regarded Banchi. She hadn't seen the giant turtle in months and had nearly forgotten about him. "I thought Crocodile released you ages ago."

"..." Banchi stared up at Robin with sleepy eyes.

"There's no reason to follow me. You're free to go." Robin waved a hand. Banchi continued gazing at Robin with his half-lidded eyes, water dripping down the side of his shell.

"Ah, I see." Robin smiled, nodding. Several arms took the large cowboy hat from Banchi's head and lifted it up to the ship. Banchi blinked gratefully. He must have been wearing the hat ever since his departure from Arabasta, but his cigar was long lost. The fabric was soggy and various barnacles and lichen had begun to cultivate on the frayed rim. As the arms dropped the hat on the deck, a crab scuttled out from beneath it and leapt overboard.

With one last blink, Banchi submerged and quickly disappeared into the dark waters. Robin waved vaguely at the spot where ripples were already fading away.

"Goodbye." Robin quietly said. She retreated back to her corner by the mast to retrieve her blanket and book, leaving the old hat in the middle of the deck.

--X--

"WHOA! GIANT HAT!" Luffy shouted as he stepped outside the next morning. He immediately leapt down and crawled beneath it. "It smells like fish!"

"Where the hell did that thing come from?" Usopp wondered out loud. Luffy flung the hat up and it hit Usopp, knocking him over. "AH! LUFFY!"

"Hahaha! It smells terrible!" Luffy said in glee, putting the hat on. It covered his entire head and most of his shoulders.

"Oi! Let me wear it!" Usopp laughed. The two boys began to squabble for the giant hat, failing to notice Robin watching them from the upper deck with a little smile on her face. Nami walked up from behind her and frowned.

"That thing looks familiar. It's like I've seen it before..." Nami said uncertainly.

"AAH! STOP PULLING, YOU'LL BREAK IT!" Usopp yelled as he began to play tug-of-war with Luffy for the hat. Usopp suddenly let go and the hat flew into the air, dropping down into the water. Luffy ran over and watched in dismay as it sank.

"Aww, it's gone." Luffy pouted.

"That's too bad." Robin murmured. She smiled brightly and looked out to the sea, Nami glancing at her with a puzzled expression.

* * *

Banchi FTW.  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.  
I've still got my eye on you fave'n'runners.


	15. Hook

There's way too many AcexOC/Ace-angst/submit-your-OC stories going around.  
Go ahead and berate me for being too picky. Honestly, I hated emo-Marineford-Ace and was anticipating his death.  
Kid Ace and pre-WB War Ace were awesome.

* * *

**Title: **How to Terrorize Children

**Theme:** #10- Hook

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **1058

**Rating: **T (but according to Struwwelpeter, K)

**Warning: **Figure it out yourself. AU? Possibly. I mean, yes.  
**  
**So my friend was showing me Struwwelpeter (Slovenly Peter), that German book of children's stories from the 1800s. It was the first time I actually saw the stories... has anyone here read them? Robin would have approved of them, anyways. And I was inspired too. Huzzah!

Except... it didn't really go with any of the themes I have left, so I just randomly added the theme at the end. Because I really wanted to write this. :/

* * *

Normally, Robin would have objected to accepting a job that involved interaction with children. Children were noisy little creatures who seemingly had no other intent but to get everything coated in a sticky layer of whatever they always had on their hands. Candy? Perhaps.

It wasn't that she _hated _children. Chopper was a good kid... then again, he was already sprouting zits and his voice was cracking. Not to mention he had the intellectual capacity of a certified doctor.

Maybe it stemmed from her own childhood. Children always tormented her because of the nasty rumors about her mother and the murders and arsons that spread through the media. So maybe that was it. Things hardly got better after her mother was finally arrested and her bitch of an aunt began to gloat about whatever she was going on about.

But whatever. Robin was running short on cash (again) and she had no choice but to accept a job at the town library. It was simple enough. Every Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, Robin would have to read painfully dull stories out loud to children and their parents. It wasn't that bad, each read-a-loud lasted just an hour.

Easy enough. Maybe? Or not.

"Struwwelpeter."

"What?" a child shouted from the back of the room. Robin sighed and held up the book. Several children began crying at the sight and they were immediately ushered out of the room by their parents, most of whom shot dirty looks at the bored woman calmly displaying the cover to everyone.

"Der Struwwelpeter, translated from German as Slovenly Peter. Written in 1845 by Heinrich Hoffmann." Robin said. It was her own copy of the classic European children's book, beaten and faded but still intact. She herself had grown up with the stories as a child. Maybe that explained her disturbingly morbid nature that bloomed in her adulthood. Who knows?

"He's scary!" another child cried out, pointing at the illustration of Slovenly Peter on the cover.

"Of course." Robin nodded. She opened the book and began to read.

"The Story of Cruel Frederick." Robin paused to wait for the baby in the third row to stop bawling his head off. "Here is cruel Frederick, see. A horrid wicked boy was he; he caught the flies, poor little things, and then tore off their tiny wings. He killed the birds, and broke the chairs, and threw the kitten down the stairs-"

"Excuse me, miss, what kind of story is that?" a frowning mother in the front row interrupted Robin. Robin calmly blinked at her.

"Why, I thought it was obvious. It's the story of cruel Frederick." Robin smiled politely. "If you would like the shortened version, Frederick beats his mother, then proceeds to brutally whip the dog. The dog, however, then mauls the boy."

"Ugh!" the mother glared at Robin with disbelief and gathered up her three children. They were all gaping at Robin with wide eyes. Robin patiently waited until the four left the room before glancing at the clock. Hardly ten minutes had passed.

"The Dreadful Story of Harriet and the Matches." Robin continued as if nothing had happened. She managed to read an entire page without any more outbursts, until she reached the end.

"So she was burnt, with all her clothes, and arms, and hands, and eyes, and nose; till she had nothing more to lose except her little scarlet shoes. And nothing else but these was found, among her ashes on the ground."

"SHE DIED!" a toddler shrieked.

"Yes, she did." Robin nodded. "She died because she played with matches and her entire body caught on fire."

"WAAAAAH!" the little girl began bawling.

"Miss, that's a terrible story!" the girl's father shouted above the girl's screaming.

"I don't see why. It does have an important lesson. Don't play with matches, children, or else _you _may catch on fire and burn to death as well." Robin smiled.

"WAAAAAH!" five more children began screaming. They quickly left the room with their parents, who shook their heads in disgust.

"Oh look, here's another good story." Robin said to the tiny crowd left in the room, presumably determined to make the most out of their paid two dollars to the read-a-loud.

She read the story, which was about a young boy named Conrad who sucked his thumb against his mother's orders and subsequently had his thumbs cut off by a tailor with giant scissors.

"Moral of the story... don't suck your thumb." Robin shrugged after the long moment of stunned silence after finishing the tale. The parents gaped at her as the children's faces began to scrunch up. Four kids, who had their thumbs in their mouths, immediately yanked them out and sat on them.

"Well, here's another one. It's about a boy who refuses to eat his supper and eventually dies..."

"Do all the children die in that book?" one of the parents called out.

"Of course not. Conrad and Frederick only suffered terrible injuries, do you not recall?" Robin said.

"Can't you read a more... _appropriate _story?" someone asked.

"Well, I think I do remember another story. It involves a child playing with some fishing hooks... yes, I think I do remember. He disobeyed his father and played with the fishing hooks. The hooks embedded themselves in his skin and the child became tangled in the nets and fell off the pier during his struggle. He didn't drown, but his blood attracted some sharks and they tore him into pieces." Robin calmly said..

"That's it. I'm getting out of here before my children are scarred for life." a man said, picking up his daughter. All the other parents murmured in agreement and began to file out of the room.

"People these days are so obsessed with censorship." Robin mused to herself, sitting alone in the read-a-loud room. After a few moments of solitude, the librarian entered. He was a man who looked like he belonged in a prison cell more than a library.

"You're fired." he bluntly said.

"And can you explain why, Mr. Roronoa?"

"The parents are complaining." he shrugged. "I really don't give a damn, but the last time they complained..."

"Fine by me." Robin tucked her book into her coat pocket. She walked to the door and paused. "Mr. Roronoa, I expect I'm still getting paid for this session?"

"LIKE HELL!"

* * *

AN: Robin would be the best babysitter ever. :D  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	16. Weather

The Luffy Show is getting kind of old now. I miss the crew. :(

* * *

**Title: **Thunderstorm and Fishes

******Theme:** #25- Weather

******Claim:** Robin

******Words: **1178

******Rating: **K

**Warnings: **None... I think.

* * *

Another loud boom sent Chopper scrambling to Zoro, getting his shoes wet. Zoro cussed under his breath, but allowed Chopper to climb up onto his lap nonetheless.

"When is the storm going to pass?" Chopper asked, trying to warm himself against Zoro's abdomen.

"Ask the witch." Zoro nodded towards Nami.

"Say that again?" Nami growled, holding up a fist threateningly. Zoro snorted and shrugged.

"Jeez, the weather's terrible." Franky commented.

"No shit." Sanji said. The windows flashed briefly, lighting up the entire aquarium bar in an unreal glow for a split second. Brook yohoho-ed and went to sit beside Luffy and Usopp on the ground beside the dumbwaiter. The two boys were drawing on some paper, although Luffy kept trying to eat the scented markers.

Sanji poured some coffee into a mug and went to the door. Chopper jumped a little. "Sanji, you can't go outside! It's pouring, and you might get sick!"

"But Robin-chan is in the crow's nest." Sanji frowned, his hand on the doorknob. The ship rocked violently to the left, causing Brook to roll like a log across the room. The fish in the aquarium were zipping back and forth with the rocking motions of the water.

"She's been up there for a while now." Nami said worriedly. "I don't think we'll need a lookout in _this _kind of weather."

"Uwaah!" Sanji suddenly began billowing steam from his nostrils. "What if she's trapped up there, scared, wishing for a PRINCE to rescue her? I'M COMING, ROBIN-CHAN!"

"Nice try. _I'll _go check on her." Nami pushed Sanji aside and took the mug from him. She steadied herself when another violent wave sent the ship rocking (Brook rolled to the other side, yohoho-ing all the way) and bravely pushed the door open, clutching a blanket around her head.

The lawn had been flooded, mud and grass spilling onto the wood. A torrent of water pounded down on the Sunny and the waves thrashed violently against the hull. Nami shut the aquarium bar door behind her, only to have the wind buffet the mug out of her hand. Glass shards spilled around her and the coffee was quickly washed away by the rain.

"Hurry up and come back inside with Robin!" Chopper shouted from behind the door.

"Got it!" Nami yelled back. She fought against the wind and mananged to get to the ratlines leading up to the crow's nest.

"ROBEEEN!" Nami screamed up to the sky. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?"

No reply. Of course, the storm had drowned out her words. Nami jumped when lightning flashed across the sky some distance away. Sighing, she began to climb the ropes, nearly slipping once or twice because of the wind blowing the ropes about. After a couple minutes, Nami managed to crawl inside the ball-shaped room, her blanket gone and her hair and clothes soaking wet.

"Ah, hello Navigator-san." Robin raised a hand in greeting.

"Why are you still up here? Everyone's in the aquarium." Nami said, squeezing water out of her shirt.

"I find the storm relaxing."

"No, seriously." Nami deadpanned. She went over to stand beside Robin by the window. "Let's go back to join the others. The storm isn't going to pass for a while."

"But look." Robin rested a hand on the telescope pointing out the window and directed it a bit to the left. "The storm is stirring up some bizarre creatures."

Robin moved aside to let Nami look through the telescope. Hardly anything was visible through the thick rain.

"I can't see anything." Nami frowned.

"Look harder."

Nami squinted her other eye shut and concentrated through the curtains of water. She gasped out loud when she was able to make out some dim figures leaping around the violent waves like dolphins. "What are those?"

"Sea Horses." Robin smiled. Nami watched the breaching figures more closely and realized they were indeed brightly colored horses with enormous fish tails instead of hind legs. "I think they're swimming away from some Lion Fish."

"They're so pretty!" Nami tried to steady the telescope when the ship lurched.

"There was a pod of Star Fish passing by earlier, but maybe there're a few stragglers left." Robin continued.

"Oh!" Nami gasped out loud when she noticed small dots leaping around the Sea Horses. They appeared to be tiny little dolphins no longer than two feet that were vivid shades of orange and yellow.

"These kinds of sea creatures only emerge during storms such as these. It's the currents that bring them up from the depths." Robin said, idly flipping through a book.

"So this is what you were doing up here." Nami straightened up and let go of the telescope. "Watching the fishes."

Outside, the steady roar of pounding rain seemed to increase. The ratlines fluttered violently in the wind and the canvas tarp protecting the tangerine grove stretched and wrinkled like a balloon. Nami shivered and hugged herself.

"So shall we join the others?" Robin started towards the hatch.

"No." Nami decided. "Let's just wait here until the storm passes. I'm sure the idiots can manage themselves."

Robin chuckled and went back to sit beside her. They looked out the window, watching the dim figures of sea creatures breaching the rolling waves.

-X-

"THEY'RE NOT BACK YET." Sanji wailed, his whole body pressed against the door. "NAMI-SWAN AND ROBIN-CHWAN AREN'T BACK YET."

"No duh." Zoro snorted, trying to pry Chopper off his head.

"Lookit what I drew!" Luffy held up a drawing of what looked like a cucumber with arms and legs. "It's Usopp!"

"That looks nothing like me!" Usopp smacked him.

"I dunno. I think it has a close resemblance." Franky stroked his chin, trying to keep a straight face.

"I agree. Perhaps Luffy-san should draw- YOHO!" Brook cried out as another jerk of the ship sent him rolling into Zoro, who began to struggle and yell beneath the flailing skeleton.

"Ah! Get off!" Chopper shrieked, pinned between Zoro and Brook.

Sanji sank down to the floor. "ROBIN-CHAN, NAMI-SAN, SAAAVE MEEE!"

-X—

"Wake up, it stopped raining." Robin gently shook Nami awake. Nami blinked and yawned sleepily, wrapped up in a clean blanket that Zoro had left up there.

"Finally?"

"See for yourself." Robin smiled. The sun was pouring into the observation deck, little rivulets of water trickling down the glass. The sea was calm once more and the entire ship was soaked down.

"The weather's so nice." Nami stood up and pressed her hands against the window.

"NAMI-SWAN, ROBIN-CHWAN! YOU CAN COME DOWN NOW!" Sanji twirled around the deck, hearts flying all around him.

"The grass is slippery!" Luffy shouted in delight, sliding across the lawn and spraying mud all over himself.

"It's so muddy! Ew!" Chopper squealed as he and Usopp tackled Luffy. The three rolled off, playing in the wet grass.

"On second thought, maybe we can stay here a little longer." Nami wrinkled her nose as she watched Zoro and Sanji start a fight while Franky attempted to separate them.

"And enjoy the weather from up here?" Robin asked teasingly.

"Exactly."

* * *

Hum dee dum. Just nine more to go! (Yeah, I'm really far behind in posting the other ones I have at the comm.)  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	17. Dance

GASP! I'M ALIVE!  
I'm really sorry, I haven't been going on FF that often anymore (well, I have... just on my other account). This will be the last update for a week, because of vacation.  
Why is FF literally destroying all the formatting? Really.

* * *

**Title: **Chaos at the Dance

**Theme: **#17- Dance

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **833

**Rating:** K+

**Warnings: **May be Frobin, or not. Whatever you think it is, it is. Oh, and it's a high school AU. Again. -_-

* * *

Robin didn't even know why she went to the school dance. Social gatherings weren't to her liking, especially when it involved _incredibly _thick crowds of _ridiculously _sweaty students in starched clothes grinding against each other, ignoring the supervisors' shrieks of disproval.

Maybe it was out of boredom.

Well, she did get bored often.

Robin hung uncomfortably at the edge of the gym where the crowd was thinnest, her head throbbing from the ear-splitting hip-hop that was probably audible throughout the entire neighborhood. She peered above the heads (which wasn't so difficult, considering her height) and searched for anyone- _anyone _she could talk to.

Nami was sneaking around, gathering as many necklaces and other jewelry she could pocket. Her bright orange hair bobbed up and down through the crowd. A little way to the left, Zoro and Sanji were break-dancing, the circle around them chanting and whooping while Sanji attempted to kick Zoro in the face, his legs spinning in the air. Luffy was climbing the pulsing stereo speakers while Usopp and Chopper tried to pull him off before the supervisors noticed.

Brook was nowhere to be seen. He was probably crawling around on the sticky floor, peeking up girls' dresses and skirts while getting trampled at the same time.

Robin sighed. She might as well leave. Just as she turned to walk to the exit, a large hand rested on her shoulder.

"Oi, Nico!" it was Franky, a bulky senior with an outdated hairstyle. Robin had talked to him a few times before, but she didn't know him that well.

"Hello, Franky." Robin raised a hand in greeting.

"Why aren't you dancing?" Franky tilted his head.

"I don't dance."

"Uh huh." Franky held out one hand the size of a baseball glove. "Then you wanna dance with me?"

"Not particularly." Robin calmly said. Franky began to sniffle and he withdrew his hand.

"Please don't cry." Robin said helplessly, glancing around.

"I-I'm not crying!" Franky sobbed. "I'm not, dammit!"

Robin bit her lip and awkwardly patted his back. "Um, it's going to be alright...?"

Franky suddenly took on a determined expression. Much to Robin's horror, he began to take his pants off. Several students began to turn and stare. Robin caught sight of Nami looking at her with pity, her pockets bulging with her pickings, before disappearing back into the throng; no doubt to take advantage of the distraction.

"What are you _doing?" _Robin hissed, trying to hide her face behind her hand.

"I don't like pants." Franky said matter-of-factly. He tore off his gray slacks, kicked off his shoes, and threw his pants out into the crowd. Girls began to scream and shove each other in an attempt to get away from the clothing article as if it were emitting noxious gases. Franky grinned and ripped his shirt off so he was clad in nothing but-

He wasn't even wearing boxers.

"...Why were you wearing speedos underneath your clothes?" Robin momentarily forgot her mortification.

"Because they're SUPER!" Franky crowed, hands behind his head, thrusting his hips out in a much too suggestive manner. "If you don't wanna dance, Nico, how about a trip to the gas station for some cola?"

"I-" Robin began.

"I WIN!" Sanji's triumphant roar overpowered the throbbing dance music. The crowd began to writhe as a fight broke out, no doubt between the victorious break-dancer and Zoro. Supervisors began to squeeze their way in between students.

"My necklace is missing!" a girl shrieked.

"My earrings! Oh my god, my earrings!"

"Oh gosh! Like, my bracelet is gone!"

"Later, Robin!" Nami called from the door, a catty grin on her face. She dashed outside, her pockets practically spilling over and ripping at the seams.

There was a thunderous crash and screech as one of the stereo speakers fell over. Luffy jumped away from the mess, laughing hysterically while Usopp and Chopper edged towards the exit.

"AAH! PERVERT!" someone suddenly screamed.

"Yohoho!"

"AAHHH!"

Robin glanced back and forth at the panicking crowd and at the nearly-naked Franky. She smiled. "Cola it is, then."

"Super!" Franky grinned. He grabbed Robin's hand and they flew out of the gym, leaving the dance and chaos behind.

-X-

Robin and Franky sat on the curb outside the 7 Eleven, their backs illuminated by the glowing sign. Robin had deserted her toe-pinching shoes and opted to go barefoot like Franky, much to his delight.

"Aren't you cold?" Robin asked, her cola bottle half-empty. Franky polished off his own and reached for his fourth.

"Nah. How 'bout you, Nico?" Cola dribbled down Franky's chin and chest.

"No." Robin answered.

"Good." Franky grinned, tapping the last drops of cola from his bottle.

Robin watched cars zipping by them. She slowly sipped her cola for a long moment of silence. "You're naked, I'm in a dress, we're sitting on the curb, and there's a twelve-pack of glass cola bottles in between us. Do you think we look a little suspicious?"

"Nope." Franky said cheerfully.

Robin laughed. "Me neither."

* * *

In reality, I only have 5 more prompts to go. I just haven't updated over here. :/  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	18. Student

OMGWTFBBQ. I'M DONE WITH THIS SET! WOOO!  
Now I just need to get to posting the rest of the, uh, thirteen chapters. Seriously, I haven't been on this account in a while. -_-  
I've been... _incognito_. Waha!

* * *

**Title: **Genius Society

**Theme: **#21- Student

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **2559

**Rating: **K+/T (does language count?)

**Warnings: **AU. Seriously AU. And I kind of wandered off around the end (since I have a hard time staying with the main plot) so it might seem like my writing is just babbling. Ehh...  
And I really strayed away from the theme. I'm so awful. *hides in shame*

* * *

"D-. Try harder next time, Luffy."

"Okay!"

"Good job, Ace. C+!"

"Heh."

"Mm... Usopp, you can do better next time. B."

"S-sure."

The instructor paused beside Robin's desk. The rest of the class quieted down and watched them expectantly. Robin stared at at the scratches in the surface on the wood and refused to look up at him.

"Nico... A+." he said, setting her graded test down before her. He tapped his foot on the tiled floor, waiting for a response.

"I'm sorry, sir." Robin quickly said, her eyes still downcast. She winced as the recievers on her temples sent mild electric shocks coursing through her head for a brief few seconds. Two students around her cried out softly, clutching their own headsets.

"Is that all? Are you even _trying_?"

"Sir, I can't exactly help it if I-" Robin was cut off by another shock, briefly ruining her train of thought before she recalled what she was going to say. "I can't help it if I _know _things."

"You should get an adjustment. Increase the frequency. That might help." he suggested. "Class dismissed."

Robin remained in her seat as the rest of the students began to file out of the room. She shakily stood up, her head ringing from the shrill siren that her headset set off in her ears.

"Oi, Robin!" Luffy bounded up to her, his bag bouncing behind him. Ace and Usopp were following him at a much more leisurely pace. "Wanna go get a burger with us?"

"I can't." Robin warily eyed the instructor, who was scrutinizing the four teens as if they were doing something illegal. "I should go see the doctor about my headset."

"Aw, but you just saw him a week ago!" Luffy frowned, fingering the recievers on his temples absentmindedly. "If he does... um..."

"Increase?" Robin offered.

"Ah, right. Increase. If he increases the shock thingy, your brain might get... uh..."

"Fried."

"Uh huh." Luffy nodded, his adam's apple bobbing. "Fried. Ooh, guys, let's go get some french fries! And burgers!"

-X-

"Square root of 5476."

"Seventy four." Robin answered. She hissed in pain as Chopper pulled another wire, increasing the intensity of the shock.

"Not good. Okay, um, twenty ninth president."

"Warren... Warren-" Robin struggled to remember the answer as her vision blurred and distorted from the electricity. The insistent ringing in her ears didn't do much to help. "Warren G. Harding."

Chopper sighed and removed the wires from Robin's headset. "I'm really sorry, Robin, but this is as high as the levels go."

"I see." Robin squeezed her eyes shut, lights dancing behind her eyelids.

"If it were up to me, I'd take that thing off- off." Chopper stuttered, his eyes dazed as his own recievers administered a shock. He blinked rapidly. "What was I talking about?"

"My brain."

"Oh, right. Well, there's not much I can do. Your mind doesn't respond as drastically to even the highest intensity your cells can take. You're just too smart, Robin." Chopper said sadly, looping the wires back onto their appropriate hooks. He scratched at the puckered skin around the recievers clamped to his temples.

"I don't understand." Robin frowned.

"What was that?" Chopper asked, rubbing his head.

"Society will inevitably fail without the intelligence needed to support such a growing economy and population. Look at us, Doctor." Robin said, ignoring the fireworks going off in her ears. "Our technology has hardly progressed since the Two Hundred Thirteenth commandment had been approved. In fact, I'd say it has _regressed _since then. Everyone is... _stupid_."

"No, average." Chopper corrected. "And it was before the Equality Law was passed, when everyone was fighting each other because some were too smart and others weren't. And since they- ow... they... what was I talking about?"

Robin stared at the doctor for a moment before reaching up and fumbling with the straps keeping her headset on. Chopper yelped and swatted her hands away.

"You can't take it off!" Chopper said shrilly, glancing around nervously.

"Well, Doctor, I can't very well reach my fullest potential if I'm being hindered by this contraption, can I not?" Robin's icy blue eyes bore into Chopper, making him gulp nervously.

"You could at least _pretend _you don't know the answers to things..."

"And where would the purpose be in that?" Robin stood up and walked away as Chopper whimpered and clutched his head from another electric shock.

-X-

Robin watched figures moving around on the TV screen with disinterest, her fingers running over a crumpled index card she had found on her mother's bed.

She sat up straight as the screen flickered to a different scene. It was time for the daily executions.

"Hiruluk. For attempting to patent new medicines une... unesus... unecessary to mankind's benefits." a reporter read off a clipboard. A grinning old man was brought up to the platform surrounded by the gunners. He stared directly at the camera.

"I'll enjoy watching your _average _world crumble from the skies above." the old man laughed before the gunfire drowned out his words.

"Nico Olvia." the reporter read. Robin's breath hitched and her grip tightened around the paper. "For attempting to revive the records of the Un- un..." the reporter squinted at the clipboard. "Unnneeekul. Unequal. For, uh, reading things. Yeah."

Robin bit her lip as she watched her mother being led up to the platform. Despite being moments away from death, Olvia still held her head high and coldly regarded the gunners.

"Don't give up, Robin. Go and live." Olvia smiled at the camera. Robin choked and slammed a fist on the remote. The screen blinked and Olvia disappeared. Robin was suddenly aware of how empty and quiet the apartment was. She burrowed her head in her hands and lay there on the couch until the sun rose, her head ringing.

-X-

Robin reread the worn out index card for the umpteenth time, her footsteps echoing down the dank, abandoned alley. She stopped in front of an iron door that had wooden planks nailed all over it and knocked twice.

"Who the hell are you?" a female voice demanded through a slit in the door that would have gone unnoticed to an untrained eye.

"My mother sent me." Robin quietly said. She nearly stumbled when an electric shock caught her off guard. "M-my mother. Nico Olvia."

"Olvia." the door slid open. Before Robin stood a girl around her age with hair that reminded her of marigolds. "You're Robin."

"Yes."

"Well, don't just stand out there like a moron. Get in!" the girl yanked her inside and quickly shut the door again. "Oh my god, you have no idea how glad I am that we found another one. Olvia... she's said enough about you. I'm sorry about what happened to her. Come with me. I'm Nami."

"My mother didn't exactly give details before she was arrested." Robin said. Nami didn't reply. They continued down a dimly lit concrete corridor that vaguely reminded Robin of the old subway systems she had once seen in books her mother had hidden from the Handicappers. Robin suddenly gasped and stumbled into Nami as a harsh screech resonated in her head.

"Are you stupid? Get that damn thing off your head!" Nami held the trembling teen steady and snapped the straps of the headset off. The ear phones clattered to the ground as well as the metal pieces. Nami sighed and tore the recievers off Robin's temples. The little discs sparked and crackled before they were crushed beneath a set of heels.

"I..." Robin straightened up. She gingerly touched the raw skin beside her eyes where the recievers once were. "I thought-"

"The law? Give me a break. _Fuck _the system." Nami smirked. "We've got our own ways of doing things here."

"...!" Robin's eyes widened as they suddenly emerged into what appeared to be an enormous lobby, metal stairs spiraling up and the sun shining through glass windows. Men and women were walking around, their heads free of the handicapping headsets people were supposed to wear. "Mom was right."

"Well, duh." Nami rolled her eyes and smiled. "Welcome to _our _world, Robin."

-X-

"Not all the "smart" people were killed off. Some, like my own step-mom, managed to group together and live in secret. See, the "average" people out there have the numbers. And the Handicappers make our mission harder." Nami said as they walked through a hallway of carpet and chrome. "This place is safely hidden by natural geography. And that gives us an advantage. The people out there forgot about nature. They just depend on their government to do things for them."

"But then the government is above average intelligence, then."

"Well, yeah. They're the nutcases who think it's better if everyone's a vegetable and lemming. Damn lemmings." Nami scowled. "See, _our _goal here in our little secret society of geniuses is to restore what we used to have. We're going to plan a revolt soon, to revive what the human race used to be. We're still finding recruits like you- people who're above average. They're hard to find these days."

"Revolutionaries." Robin smiled, remembering the old fairy tales her mom read to her as a child.

"I guess, but we're more subtle about it. Incognito. Undercover. Spies." Nami said. They paused by a window to look at the mountains below. "Like Usopp. USOPP!"

"Sheesh, quit yelling." a figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"What was that?" Nami held up a fist.

"Nothing! Nothing!" the boy fidgeted when he saw Robin looking at him curiously. He raised a hand in greeting. "Hey, Robin."

"You people were watching me the entire time. In other words, you were monitoring my process." Robin said, realization dawning upon her.  
"We wanted you to join us earlier. Your mom was really stressed out about it." Usopp said nervously. "But protocol and all that crap. We had to make sure you actually had the potential... then Olvia was captured. And Hiruluk. He was one of our greatest doctors."

"I see." Robin nodded, her eyes never leaving the mountain view. She had never even knew that such untouched nature still existed.

-X-

"You'll bunk with me for the time being." Nami said, sliding a metal door open. "Do you want to go back outside to get your things from your apartment?"

"No. I had nothing there to lose." Robin shook her head. She smiled when she saw the bookshelf in the back of the neat little room. "You have books."

"Well, of course." Nami said incredulously. "The library is better, though. I'll show you the entire society tomorrow. You must be really tired."

"Nami, why am I here?" Robin suddenly asked. Without the headset constantly blurring her mind, she found herself constantly being bombarded by thoughts and questions, theories and ideas. "I understand you all are trying to restore human society, but why am _I _here?"

"To help us." Nami said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "We could use all the help we can get."

"Doctor Chopper." Robin suddenly remembered the little doctor who had tried to help her in all the wrong ways. "And everyone else. My classmates."

"Someday, I promise. Someday we'll overthrow that handicapping government and teach everyone how to be above average. We'll destroy all those damn headsets and start printing books again. Hell, we'll start printing money like our grandparents used to have!" Nami's eyes sparkled. "Money! Lots and lots of money!"

"And until then?"

"We learn more, of course. After all, potential is just an estimation. But you probably already know that." Nami grinned brightly, thumping Robin on the back.

-X-

"Astounding. I never knew there was so much." Robin said, surrounded by dozens of open books as she skimmed through pages and pages.

"I can see you're enjoying our archives." Nami said, chewing on a muffin.

"Thousands and thousands of years of history have been kept secret from mainstream society." Robin said, flipping madly through a book on her left. "If I wasn't so excited about reading all of this, I would have the urge to snap necks and break spines."

"That's a pleasant thought." Nami muttered.

"My mother knew all about this. This is where she got her books from." Robin leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, gently rubbing her slightly-sore temples. "I do believe humankind has some chance of rebounding from the dredges of monotonous life... if they don't collapse into themselves first from corruption and fried brains."

"What are you, a pessimist?" Nami shot.

"And yet there's still a whole universe of things to learn." Robin looked out the window. "Most astronomy was lost about one thousand three hundred and eighty seven years ago- an estimation, of course- but we can get it all back. We can learn how to read the stars again."

"Whoa, whoa, I thought you were focusing on history." Nami held up her hands.

"Yes, I am." Robin looked at her, slightly puzzled. She resumed to skimming madly through the books. "So many centuries, bursting with the fruit of humankind's sucesses. The Dynastic Cycles, ancient civilizations, countless wars, the Age of Pirates."

"You read too fast." Nami said, opening a bottle of water.

"It's all so much, my mind..." Robin's eyes suddenly closed and she slumped over a thick almanac. Nami stood up in alarm.

"Hey, Robin. Robin! Hey!" Nami shook her and prodded her limp arm. "Hey!"

"Bothering the scholars again?" a man who had been napping in an armchair nearby opened one eye. "Typical, Nami."

"Shut up, Zoro!" Nami hissed, lightly slapping Robin. "She just passed out!"

"No shit. She only got her headset and recievers taken off yesterday. Usually it takes a _week _for a mind to adjust." Zoro yawned.

"Hm." Nami half-smiled. She sat back down and waited for Robin to wake up again.

-X-

"There's lots of other people here. You'll meet everyone over time." Usopp chattered, tinkering with what looked like a cross between a toilet and a microwave. "Brook's really good in musical arts, Sanji makes the best food in the whole society, and Franky can turn a tin can into a jetpack."

"No one in the outside world has such talents." Robin frowned, handing Usopp a wrench.

"Nope." Usopp agreed. "It's so everyone's equal, remember?"

"_Fuck _the system!" Nami called from across the workshop.

-X-

"When will I return to the outside?" Robin asked, looking up from a book.

"Whenever you see fit." Nami replied, brushing knots out of her hair in front of a mirror.

"No one here seems to be in charge." Robin noted.

"Of course not. We don't _need _leaders telling us what to do. We're smarter than that." Nami tapped the side of her head and smiled. "Of course, we do work off each other's suggestions and advice and stuff, but we're kind of like a people-government."

"Are there any books on politics I can look at?" Robin asked.

"Yup."

"What do _you _study, Nami?"

"Geography. Cartography. Stuff like that." Nami answered carelessly. "After the revolt is over, I'll be free to travel to re-map the world. All the old maps were burned, and satellites are just space junk now. All thanks to the government's equality program."

"Screw the system." Robin smiled teasingly.

"_Fuck _the system." Nami corrected.

* * *

THREE CHEERS FOR TERRIBLE ENDINGS! Honestly, I didn't like this one that much, mainly because it was typed while my brain was half-dead.  
REJOICE IN MY RESURRECTION, PEASANTS. Yeah, I'm done capslock raging.  
Ahem. Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	19. Frog

Hah... hah... okay, I've calmed down.  
Oh, gosh, I looked back at the first few chapters, and... ugh. Crap. That was crap, that one too, and maybe that one. So maybe I'll redo them, once I get the okay to do so from the mods.

* * *

**Title: **Frog in the Soup

**Theme: **#26 Frog

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **466

**Rating: **K+

**Warnings: **Takes place during Robin's childhood. And possibly a bit of OOCness, if Robin didn't have a sense of humor back then.

* * *

It wasn't her fault.

It really wasn't.

Roji was just being unreasonable again, that was all. Robin's fingers scratched against dry grass that itched at her bare feet. Her shirt would probably tear against the rough bark of the tree she was sitting against, but she didn't care. Robin hesitantly pressed the ugly bruise on her arm and winced.

It hurt.

She shuffled uneasily, the creek nearby quietly trickling. Usually Robin would have had a book with her, but in her haste to flee her aunt's fury she had forgotten to snatch a novel on her way out. The scholars had closed off the archives too, which meant Robin would have nothing to do for the day.

"Ribbit."

Robin blinked. She peered around the tree.

"Ribb-it."

A frog? There, sitting in the muddy grass, was a bumpy dark green frog.

The girl cautiously raised a hand. Immediately, several arms sprouted like vines around the startled frog and clamped down, trapping the amphibian beneath little hands.

Robin stood up and brushed dirt off her knees. The frog was thrashing violently beneath the hands.

Really, Auntie was such an unreasonable person.

-X-

"UWAAH! THERE'S A FROG IN THE HOUSE!" Roji screeched, scrambling onto a chair. The little frog was hopping slowly across the wooden floor, croaking.

"Dear, calm down!" Robin's uncle said helplessly.

"IT'S THAT BRAT'S FAULT! ROBIN, GET THAT THING OUT OF HERE!" Roji yelled.

"Yes, Auntie." Robin scooped up the frog and quickly exited the room. Roji stepped off the chair, seething.

"Dear, Robin couldn't have-"

"This is why I didn't want to take in the brat!" Roji hissed, jabbing him in the chest with an accusing finger.

-X-

"KYAAH! MOMMY, THERE'S A FROG IN THE SOUP!" Roji's daughter shrieked upon taking notice of the pickle-colored amphibian swimming in the clear broth. It kicked and splashed the entire table.

"ROBIN!" Roji screamed. Robin appeared at the top of the stairs, mildly chewing on her small morsel of bread.

"Yes, Auntie?"

"I told you to get rid of the damn frog!"

"He must have come back inside. Maybe there are bugs in the house." Robin suggested. She flew down the stairs to grab the moist frog from the pot of soup. The frog smelled like chicken.

"Get out! Get out!" Roji shouted, arms flailing at Robin. Robin's uncle sighed and held his forehead in his hand.

-X-

Robin lay in bed later that night, watching the spiders crawling on the ceiling. She silently counted off the seconds, waiting for the scream.

"URAAAAAH!"

"Roji, dear, please calm down!"

"THERE'S A FROG IN MY BED!"

Robin turned over and went to sleep, smiling to herself.

* * *

HA. HA. I've always wanted to do that. Except with my hermit crabs, because they pinch. Yes, I was an evil child.  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	20. Sacrifice

I really should stop writing angst. I think it's driving the readers away. -_-

* * *

**Title: **Survival of the Fittest

**Theme: **#13- Sacrifice

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **590

**Rating: **T

**Warnings: **Angst, possibly a bit of OOCness

* * *

It had started when Nami realized there was a dead body laying on the deck, arm outstretched towards the railing as if trying to get off the ship. The pirate's head was twisted at a grotesque angle and his back appeared to have been bent to the side in a nearly ninety degree angle. His other arm, the one that wasn't reaching in front of him, had been twisted behind his mangled back.

It was obvious who had killed the man.

"Robin!" Nami yelled as Luffy and Usopp watched the enemy pirate ship sail away, whooping and shouting taunts after them from the front of the ship.

"Yes?" Robin appeared beside her. She glanced at the body.

"..." Nami's mouth opened and closed as she tried to find the right words. She _knew _that Robin could kill people. She _knew _that it was inevitable that someone would die in their fights...

"Why did you kill him?" Nami finally asked, motioning towards the corpse. Luffy and Usopp finally quieted down and retreated to the galley to bother Sanji for a snack while Zoro resumed his training as if they had never been attacked by enemy pirates moments earlier. No one took notice of the two females standing over the dead body.

"Self defense." Robin said.

"It looks like he was trying to get away." Nami pointed at the hand reaching for the sea. She bit her lip and looked away from the horrific sight, trying not to shudder.

They were _pirates_. Pirates killed people all the time... didn't they?

But that didn't mean _they _had to. They weren't like other pirates, who stole things and destroyed villages and hurt innocent people.

"Didn't you once say that human lives are too precious to waste?" Nami broke the long silence. Robin's eyes flashed, but her expression didn't change. "You said... that it's _wrong _to just kill people like they're ants. Didn't you?"

"Are you implying that I'm a hypocrite?" Robin smiled crookedly, staring at the dead man.

"Maybe." Nami said. "So why do you kill?"

Robin leaned on the railing, her hair blowing in her face. "Sometimes, in order to survive, you need to sacrifice your own beliefs. It gets easier to ignore your conscious after a while."

"Is that what it's about?" Nami choked. She clenched her fists. "Survival of the fittest?"

Robin shrugged.

"_You don't need to kill anymore!_" Nami cried, grabbing Robin's shoulder. "Don't you _get _it?"

"I didn't-"

"You said so yourself! He was _human_!" Nami's nails dug into Robin's skin. "I thought... I thought you weren't scared anymore..."

"After a while, old habits are hard to break." Robin quietly said, looking off to the side.

"Habit?" Nami yelled. "You can't make it a damn _habit _to kill people! It's just... wrong!" She suddenly wrapped her arms around Robin and buried her face in her shoulder.

"Nami..." Robin said, hesitantly placing a hand on her head.

"No more killing." Nami whispered.

"... I promise." Robin nodded. Nami unattatched herself and smiled, wiping her eyes.

They silently wrapped the body up in a spare sheet. Franky's chainsaw filled the silence of the calm day, as well as yelling and laughing coming from the galley. It was nearly unreal, to be handling a corpse while the rest of the crew was unaware. Even Zoro had been sleeping nearby the whole time, head drooping over his chest.

With one swift movement, Nami and Robin heaved the wrapped up body overboard, watching the waves quickly claim it and drag it below the surface.

* * *

Yay for dead bodies. :D  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	21. Sand

Yep, it's definitely the angst. ^^"

* * *

**Title: **Sand Castles

**Theme: **#20 Sand

**Claim: **Robin

**Rating: **K+

**Words: **260

**Warnings:** More Crocodile + Robin stuff.

* * *

****

Crocodile walked briskly through the hotel complex above the casino, muttering to himself. The weather was unbearably hot, causing the casino to become crowded to the capacity with sweaty tourists seeking a cool drink and a slot machine. To avoid being swarmed by all his idiotic admirers, Crocodile had seeked refuge in the empty halls above.

He found Nico Robin in the middle of one of the halls, building a sand castle.

The puzzled Shichibukai stared at the odd scene for a moment before scowling.

"What the _hell _are you doing?" he growled.

"I'm making a sand castle, of course." Robin said without looking up.

"And you brought sand inside Rain Dinners?" a vein in Crocodile's forehead twitched.

"No, this is your sand. You left a pile here recently."

Crocodile twisted around and realized there was a large hole in the back of his coat. Huh. That never happened before.

"And you didn't bother _telling _me?"

"Well, I thought you were busy so..."

"So you decided to build a sand castle and neglect your duties."

"When you put it that way, yes." Robin shrugged, using multiple hands to shape out the details of the elaborate structure. Crocodile raised a hand and the entire sand castle and every grain around it flew towards him, filling up the hole in his coat seamlessly.

"Don't ever do that again." Crocodile glared down at her.

"Of course, Mr. 0." Robin hid a smile. She stood up and walked away, leaving Crocodile alone in the hall.

He sighed and shook his head. What a troublesome woman.

* * *

So starting from here, there's NO MORE ANGST! Yaaaay! *confetti*  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	22. Thorn

Morbidity. Oh yes.

* * *

**Title: **The Lovely Forest of Dead People

**Theme: **#19- Thorn

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **1800

**Rating: **T

**Warning: **Dead stuff and you're at it, go look up Aokigahara. The moment I read the article on it, I just knew that would be Robin's ideal vacation spot. :D  
And Perona's too, perhaps...

* * *

It wasn't anyone else's idea to stop at the completely uninhabited island. The weird greenish haze that drifted around the waters was enough to give Usopp a dreadful shiver and the eerie silence that engulfed the ship once they were within a couple miles of the island made even Luffy calm down and stop bouncing all over the ship.

The thing was, it didn't _look _like an island. It was more like a huge mass of trees- no shoreline, no beach, not even a cliff. It was as if a sea of trees had melded together and drifted out into the ocean.

It didn't help when Zoro noted the faint stench of rotting flesh emanating from the tree-blob-thing.

"What a lovely island." Robin said, leaning against the railing and peering through the sickly green haze.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Nami yelled.

"We should stop for a while." Robin continued on as if Nami wasn't screaming in her ear. "Doctor-san, wouldn't you say it would be an opportunity to gather more vegetation?"

"I guess…" Chopper muttered, covering his sensitive nose with his hooves.

"That place is giving off bad vibes." Zoro said slowly, glaring at nothing in particular.

"Yoho… my bones won't stop clattering!" Brook said as cheerfully as he could with the green haze filling their nostrils and making their eyes water (even though he had no eyes- skull joke!).

"I _would _like to at least have a look around." Robin said wistfully.

"You're crazy." Nami decided. Sanji wisely chose to stay silent, torn between agreeing with the beautiful gorgeous Nami-san and siding with the graceful elegant Robin-chan.

"Ne, guys, that place looks exciting! There might even be treasure!" Luffy said, seemingly oblivious to the ominous wind blowing through.

"Treasure my ass! I'm going with Zoro and Nami on this one." Usopp said.

"I never said anything about not stopping there." Zoro said incredulously.

"TRAITOR!" Usopp fell over.

"Come on, bros, there's no sissy pansy island that _we _can't handle." Franky said confidently.

"There's not even a place to dock! Look! No beach!" Nami waved her arms at the mass of trees. The ship seemed to be approaching the island faster and faster until Luffy could have stretched his arms out and poked a tree if he wanted to. The foul odor intensified, making Chopper run for cover in the galley.

"And it smells like shit." Usopp added in.

"Yosh. Treasure it is." Luffy nodded.

"WHAT KIND OF LOGIC IS THAT?" Usopp smacked him. And despite Nami and Usopp's protesting, Franky dropped anchor and the Sunny halted right beside the trees, gently bobbing in the calm waves. Zoro volunteered to tag along with Luffy and Robin should they get lost in the forest.

Sanji laughed, nearly igniting yet another fight before Nami dragged him back to the galley to find Chopper.

"Jeez, damn trees smell like shit." Zoro commented, pinching his nose as he swiped an opening in the thick line of trees with one sword.

"We're gonna find lots of shiny stuff and cool stuff and maybe a giant beetle, too!" Luffy said happily, marching forward. He squeezed his way between the tightly packed trunks twisting around each other.

Hardly a minute passed before Robin noticed the silence.

"There aren't any birds. Nor insects, as far as I can tell." Robin bent down to examine the mossy dirt, bumpy with tree roots snaking around. The sunlight weakly filtered through the thick canopy above, giving the impression it was close to nighttime thought it was in the middle of the afternoon.

"Probably because the smell drives them away." Zoro shrugged, facing a tree, seemingly puzzled as to why it was in his path.

"Guys! I found a sign!" Luffy called a little way ahead. Zoro bumped into the tree, cursed, and turned around to walk to the sound of Luffy's voice.

Robin squinted into the darkness, frowning. If she looked carefully, it looked like there was a-

"Oooh! This is so creepy!" Luffy said in delight.

"Huh." Zoro scratched his head. Robin picked her way over roots and rotting logs to peer over his shoulder. Sure enough, just as Luffy had said, there was a splintery wooden sign erected between two trees. The writing was faded and crude, but barely legible.

"_Go back. Go back._" Robin read out loud. "Odd, I thought there wasn't anyone on this island."

Zoro shivered. "I don't like this place."

"Aww, there's not even monkeys here." Luffy pouted, disappointed by the lack of noise in the thick forest. He cupped his hands to his mouth. "MONKEEY! MONKEEY!"

Complete silence. Zoro shuddered and his fist tightened around the hilt of his sword. "Let's go back."

"You two can return without me. I'll continue exploring." Robin said, examining the sign.

"You'll get lost if you're alone." Zoro said bluntly.

"It's okay, we can just go over the tops of the trees!" Luffy grabbed his arm and launched himself above the trees, disturbing the still leaves and branches. Zoro shouted in indignation and flailed, secured in Luffy's grip.

"DAMMIT, LUFFY!"

"See ya back at the ship, Robin!" Luffy called down as he balanced himself on a thick branch before leaping towards the ship with Zoro in tow.

Within seconds, Robin was swallowed in the unnerving silence.

-X-

The first body Robin encountered was just a completely bleached skeleton, coated in green vegetation and completely undisturbed. She stared at it for a moment before carefully crouching down beside it.

"There isn't a mark on it…" Robin said to herself. The person had died from a natural death, probably, seeing as it was lying in a position as if it were sleeping.

Robin stood up and looked up above her. The deeper she hiked into the forest, the dimmer the sunlight became and the thicker the trees bunched together. Nevertheless, Robin continued maneuvering through, curious about the lack of other vegetation and signs of life. The only plants she had seen were the trees and the fuzzy moss coating everything.

The second body she found was in the exact same condition as the first- untouched, undisturbed, and not a single bit of flesh left on it.

As was the third.

And fourth.

And fifth.

The forest was filled with skeletons, more and more appearing the deeper Robin went into the island. Yet there were no animals or signs of other human activity.

Soon bones crunched beneath her feet and her vision was greatly inhibited by the lack of sunlight reaching through the thick foliage. Robin flinched in surprise when something scratched her arm. She touched it with her finger and found it was bleeding. Cautiously, she took another step forward and was immediately scratched across the face by a thorny vine hanging from a tree.

"Whoops." Robin muttered, feeling the blood trickling down her face. She turned around and a thorn caught her across the leg, creating a deep cut.

Wait, when did everything go dark?

Robin blindly found her way back where she came from, the only sounds her breathing and the rattling of bones she stepped on. Her exposed skin became warm with blood and the thorns around her only seemed to increase in number. She nearly choked when she realized how awful the smell of death had become.

Robin stopped moving completely and the scratching stopped.

No, that couldn't be how the people died.

Could it?

After all, there were _bones _beneath her feet.

Maybe she should have gone back with Swordsman-san and Captain-san after all.

Hm, she seemed to be caught in quite a predicament.

Lovely.

Robin concentrated and stared off into the darkness, careful not to move an inch. Sure enough, a tiny pinprick of light appeared in the distance. Robin quickly stepped forward, ignoring the pains of the thorns grabbing-

Wait, were the vines _grabbing _at her?

Robin broke out into a sprint, stumbling over skeletons and brushing branches and thorns out of her way. Much to her surprise, she suddenly emerged into bright sunlight and nearly fell into the water.

How strange.

"OI!" Robin looked up to see Zoro waving at her from the Sunny. He lowered a ladder and Robin scaled it, the rope rubbing painfully against her scratched up hands.

"Whoa. What happened to you?" Zoro raised his eyebrows in mild surprise as he took in her bloody appearance.

"Thorns." Robin said.

"Robi- holy _fuck_, what the hell were you- what happened?" Nami gasped in horror. The other Strawhats began to emerge from the indoors. Even Chopper came outside, braving against the foul-smelling haze.

"Robin-chan, what happened? Who did that to you? I'll kick their ass!"

"Nico Robin, you alright?"

"I told you! I told you not to go on that creepy island!"

"DOCTOOOR!" Chopper wailed upon sight of all the blood. "DOCTOOR- oh, that's me… sorry. Robin! What happened?"

"That seems to be the question of the day." Robin laughed.

"I'll go get the antiseptic and bandages! The cuts don't look too deep!" Chopper panted, sprinting to the infirmary.

"I think the island is carnivorous." Robin said thoughtfully, sitting down on the grass.

"What? It's just a bunch of trees…" Nami glanced warily at the thick mass of trees.

"Precisely. My hypothesis is that the trees share a symbiotic relationship with a more dangerous species of flora within the heart of the forest, intertwining with each other into a transition subtle enough so that anyone who wanders far enough won't be aware until it's too late."

"Where do you get these crazy ideas?" Nami groaned.

"Well, there _were _all the skeletons…"

"DEAD BODIES?" Nami shrieked. She glared at Brook, who had opened his jaw to make a skull joke. "Don't even!"

"It's quite odd, considering that the haze and the foul stench would be enough to drive _away _any wanderers. Then again, some of the bones were quite old, so the conditions may have changed over time." Robin said as Chopper flitted around her, cleaning up her cuts. She sighed. "Although I forgot to pick up a few bones."

"So there's no treasure?" Luffy spoke up.

"I'm afraid not." Robin said gravely.

"_This _is why I keep telling you guys! Don't go on the creepy island that smells like dead people! Stay away from the weird trees that kill things!" Usopp ranted.

"I thought it was a thrilling experience." Robin said.

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE JUST CREEPY LIKE THAT!"

"It's too bad. I _would _like to return to examine the plants more closely."

"WHICH TOTALLY PROVES MY POINT!"

"Franky, we're leaving. _Now_." Nami glowered at Franky, sending him running to lift anchor. She stood above Robin and sighed, shaking her head. "All this time, I thought you were the sane one."

"The island had such a lovely atmosphere." Robin said almost dreamily as Chopper dabbed at the cuts on her forehead.

"ROBIN!"

* * *

I'd like to go there someday, anyways (Aokigahara).  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	23. Kingdom

I'm _almost _halfway there with set 1. I'll post it here eventually. :T

* * *

**Title:** The Story Game

**Theme: **#9- Kingdom

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **1244

**Rating: **K+ or T if language counts.

**Warning: **Despite my claim, this one is more focused on the whole entire crew, which means Robin has less dialogue because she's quiet like that.  
Ah well, I had fun with this. We actually played this game in my summer class today, except it was nowhere near as fun. The people in my class have no imaginations AT ALL. D:

* * *

"Nami, when's the rain gonna stop?"

"I told you, in an while!"

"I'm boooored." Luffy flopped off his chair and stared glumly at everyone's feet spread around the aquarium bar. He jumped back up and mashed his lips and nose against the glass, making faces at the fish.

"Luffy, stop that. You're leaving saliva all over the glass." Sanji said without looking up from his gourmet magazine.

"Wha- oh, that's just gross!" Franky ran over to pull Luffy away.

"But I'm boooored! Let's play a game or something!" Luffy announced. At that moment, Usopp came inside, soaked to the skin and water dripping off the tip of his nose.

"It's raining pretty hard out there. Why, I saw fish swimming up against the rain up to the clouds!" Usopp waved his arms.

"Whoa! Is that even possible?" Chopper perked up.

"Of course! I saw it with my own two eyes!"

"There's fish swimming in the sky? No way!" Luffy began running around. "Guys! Let's go outside to see the sky fish!"

"He's just lying again." Zoro grumbled.

"Aaaugh." Luffy stopped spinning and fell onto the table where Nami, Sanji, and Robin were reading. He glanced at each of them sneakily, none of the three taking notice of him. A grin spread on Luffy's face and he stretched out his tongue, snatching Sanji's magazine out of his hands.

"Oi!" Sanji jerked back in surprise. "Luffy you shitty moron, give that back!"

"Chase me!" Luffy jumped away, the magazine crumbling into the maw of his left cheek. "Lesh play tag, Shanji!"

"On second thought, keep it." Sanji sat back down and scowled. Luffy frowned and spat out the wet magazine.

"Nami-"

"No."

Luffy turned to the rest of the crew lazing around in the blue-tinged room. "PLAY WITH ME!"

Brook, who had been quietly sitting in a corner fixing his violin strings, stood up. "Ah, I do remember one game I always played with my old crew whenever we were forced inside by the weather."

"Really? Let's play then!" Luffy eagerly said. "Everybody, come to the table!"

No one moved.

"Captain's orders!"

With a few grumbles (namely from Zoro) and a couple of yawns, Luffy managed to crowd everyone around him at the table.

"So when do we get to blow stuff up?" Luffy asked, looking expectantly at Brook.

"… There is no violence involved in this game, Luffy-san."

"Ah, that's boring!" Luffy huffed.

"Please, at least give it a chance!" Brook hastily said. "We always called it the Story Game- our deckhand taught it to us. One person begins a story with a single sentence and each person adds to it as it progresses. Quite simple, really. Sanji-san, would you like to begin?"

"Eh, why not?" Sanji tapped his fingers on the table. "Okay, uh, once upon a time, there was a beautiful golden-haired angelic princess trapped in a tower, waiting for a prince to rescue her."

"Che." Zoro snorted. "Except she contracted a terrible disease that made all her hair fall out and she went bald."

"SHITTY MARIMO!"

"Sanji-kun, it's my turn!" Nami pulled Sanji back down in his seat. "The bald princess then got out of the tower by herself using her stealth and set out to search for… a treasure! A treasure worth a thousand kingdoms!"

"But the treasure was guarded by a fearsome dragon named Usoppogon!" Usopp pounded his chest, pleased with himself.

"Whoaaa!" Chopper's eyes sparkled. "My turn! The bald princess eventually reached the treasure guarded by Usoppogon, but Usoppogon proved to be too powerful and awesome for the princess to get past!"

"Then the princess realized she needed a power-up, so she went to a nearest town to find some cola." Franky said, proud with his idea.

"No! No! She had to find meat!" Luffy caught Franky's warning glare. "Okay, fine, she needed to find cola _and _meat. The princess found the cola and meat and became really strong and her fists grew spikes and she grew wings and she got laser-vision!"

"Yohoho. How exciting!" Brook rubbed his jaw. "The bald spiky-flying-laser-blasting princess flew back to the dragon Usoppogon's lair to engage in a fierce battle for the treasure!"

"Despite her upgrades, the dragon proved to be too tough for the princess and he ate her after burning her into a melted, disfigured lump with his flames." Robin said. Everyone looked at her in shock.

"Robin-chaan!" Sanji whined.

"I liked it." Zoro shrugged. "Anyways, Usoppogon then went on a rampage and set out to destroy the kingdom… of Retardia."

"MARIMO! Except some stupid green-headed moron got in Usoppogon's path and he was crushed into a pancake by the dragon's foot!"

"THEN THE DRAGON CAME ACROSS AN IDIOTIC CURLY-BROWED CHEF AND-" Zoro was knocked down by Nami. She held up a fist warningly and Sanji sat back down.

"It's my turn." Nami said. "The kingdom of Retardia- oh, don't give me that look Sanji-kun- began to prepare for battle against the mighty dragon."

"They gathered all the other neighboring kingdoms and animals of the forests, too!" Chopper bounced up and down in his seat.

"However, oh ho ho ho, the mighty Usoppogon knew of the kingdoms' plans and gathered his own clan of dragons to aid him!" Usopp crowed.

"Yeah! Dragons with machinery parts and cannons and all sorts of super weapons!" Franky nodded. "They began their plot to fight against the kingdoms."

"The day arrived of the battle between Usoppogon and the Kingdom of Retardia." Brook said.

"They ate lots of meat beforehand so the knights and dragons and all the fighters had these awesome claws and horns and there were giant beetles and monster-rhinos and really big flying fish and a reaaaally big turtle in the army too." Luffy said. Everyone looked at him blankly.

"Can anyone possibly top that?" Sanji glanced around.

"However, at the last minute, an enormous crevasse opened in the earth and swallowed all of the warriors and dragons and… beetles… immediately burning them alive in the lava below." Robin spoke up.

"You just killed everyone!" Luffy accused.

"Way to ruin the story- OW!" Zoro scowled as Sanji kicked him below the table. "What? She _did _kill everyone!"

"Except for Usoppogon. He survived." Robin added in.

"…"

"…"

"I like that ending." Usopp decided.

"It was quite an exhilarating story." Brook agreed.

"Did everyone just forget about the treasure?" Nami asked indignantly. "You know, the one worth a thousand kingdoms!"

"I think Usoppogon got the treasure at the end." Chopper carefully said.

"Well put!" Usopp grinned.

"Oi, the rain stopped!" Franky realized.

"YAAY!" Luffy shouted. He crawled over Sanji, Robin, Nami, and Usopp to get to the door and dashed outside, cheering and rolling around in the wet grass.

"Wait for us Luffy!" Chopper called. He, Usopp, and Brook ran after him, laughing as the warm sun hit their faces.

"Good, I can finally take my nap." Zoro grunted, going outside to settle down by the railing. Franky and Sanji went outside to prevent the boys from throwing mud all over the deck.

"Brook's game was actually pretty fun." Nami said as she and Robin gathered up the magazines Luffy had strewn around the floor during his moment of boredom.

"He probably knows a lot more from his time with the Rumbar Pirates."

"Except you kept trying to kill everyone off in the story!" Nami pointed a finger at her. Robin shrugged.

"I like plot twists."

Nami groaned and threw a magazine at her.

* * *

Moral of today: don't go to the op_fanforall if you value your innocence.  
What does that have to do with this chapter, you ask? Well... absolutely nothing. It's just a caveat, okay?  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	24. Mole

I think the later chapters are way better than the earlier ones. I honestly, truly think I did shitty on the first few prompts I completed. Urgh...

* * *

**Title: **Wonderland?

**Theme: **#16- Mole

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **812

**Rating: **K+

**Warning: **None, I guess.

* * *

The woods smelled like flowers and wet grass, like quietness and tranquility and a perfect place to sit down and read a book.

"Cool, the sap tastes like toothpaste!"

"Luffy you moron, don't lick the trees!"

Or not. Despite being perfectly capable of tuning out noise around her, Robin moved deeper into the woods. The trails were spacious and the dirt was packed down, suggesting other people had been there before. Once Luffy's whooping and Nami's scolding was barely out of earshot, Robin settled down against a tall, gray tree and opened her book.

"Psst."

Robin didn't hear the small hiss, already drawn into her book. A pebble flew through the air and hit her head. She absentmindedly rubbed her ear.

"Psst!"

Still no reaction. Robin turned a page and a larger rock whizzed past her head. She momentarily glanced around before returning to the story.

"PSSSST!"

This time, Robin looked up. She blinked in surprise when she finally noticed the small furry creature looking up at her from a hole in the dirt. It was a mole, wearing a tiny mushroom cap on its head.

"Hey!" the mole whispered insistently. "Come with me!"

Robin looked around her, half-expecting to see Usopp hiding behind a tree and using his ventriloquist talent to make it appear as if the mole was speaking to her. But no one was there.

"Are you deaf?" the mole jumped out of its hole and glared up at Robin from beneath its mushroom cap. "I _said_, come with me!"

"You're not a Zoan user, are you?" Robin asked, recalling a shrill old woman with constant back problems.

"What?" the mole tilted his head. "What are you babbling about, Alice?"

"Alice?"

"Alice."

"I'm not Alice."

"Of course you are. Stop being so weird." The mole began to tug at her shoe. "You're already late, so come on!"

Robin could only stare blankly at the talking mushroom-wearing mole, the book in her lap forgotten. So much for peaceful reading time. "I'm not-"

"Alice!" the mole said impatiently, adjusting its cap. "You're being difficult!"

"Well, this is odd." Robin muttered as the mole began scratching at her foot. "Perhaps this is a dream."

"That's what you said last time!" the mole said in frustration. "Follow me!"

"Follow you where?" Robin asked, curiosity finally getting the better of her.

"Down there! Unless you wanna go look for a rabbit hole, of course." The mole pointed to the little tunnel he had emerged from.

"You're not making any sense."

"Alice, just drink this and follow me, okay?" the mole produced a tiny glass bottle filled with a champagne-colored liquid from his mushroom cap and held it up to her.

Robin's honed suspicions about poisoned beverages immediately kicked in, making her narrow her eyes at the mole. "And what is that, exactly?"

"You should know, Alice." The mole rolled his eyes. "Come _on_, time's-a-wasting!"

Robin reached down and snatched the mole up with one hand, gripping him firmly as he squirmed and squawked indignantly.

"What're you _doing_?" the mole shouted.

"Robin?" Luffy emerged from the bushes, his face and hands sticky with tree sap. "Oh! There you are. Everyone's looking for you."

The mole stopped shouting and squeaked, body stiffened. Robin looked down at the mole, then at Luffy, then at the mole.

"Here. You can have this." Robin offered the mole to Luffy. Luffy's eyes widened with curiosity and he took the mole out of Robin's hands, grinning brightly.

"Whoa! Thanks, Robin!" Luffy laughed, squeezing the mole and making his eyes pop out. He poked the mushroom cap firmly lodged on its head. "Haha, he's even got a hat!"

"Then shall we go back?" Robin picked up her book and motioned towards the trail.

"Okay! Shishishi, he's funny!" Luffy said, holding the mole up to his face. The small animal struggled in Luffy's tight grip and glared at Robin in disbelief.

"I'm not Alice." She shrugged.

"Huh?" Luffy looked at her.

"Oh, nothing." Robin smiled as the mole squirmed. They came out of the woods and found everyone waiting on the Sunny. Luffy and Robin boarded and Franky lifted anchor. Luffy tossed the mole up and down a few times before Usopp and Chopper took notice of his new pet.

"Cool, where'd you get that?" Usopp asked, poking the mole's mushroom cap.

"Robin found him!"

"I think he's angry about something." Chopper said, jumping up and down to get a better look at him. "But he's not saying anything."

"That's okay! Hey, guys, let's play catch with him!" Luffy ran to the other side of the deck and threw the mole at Usopp. The three boys began running around, the helpless mole whizzing through the air.

"Where did that thing come from?" Nami asked, sitting beside Robin. Robin shrugged and smiled at the mole as it flew by them.

"I have no idea."

* * *

Hey! Come join the 30_onepiece challenge! Round 4 begins this August, so there's plenty of time to claim! *blatant advertisement*  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	25. Cafe

Ha. Hah. Isn't it funny? These recent chapters were written moments before the deadline at the comm, which means I rushed through these. Yet, they _still _turned out better than the previous ones, which were written when there was plenty of time left.  
Hah. Hah. Hah... T_T

* * *

**Title: **Writer's Block

**Theme: **#29- Café

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **861

**Rating: **K+ for mild language

**Warning: **An OC. It's when I lost inspiration when I start vomiting up crap stories like this. Even the OC's name is crap.

* * *

Pencil tap. Tap. Tap. Coffee? Coffee. More coffee.

He rubbed the stubble on his chin and sighed, stabbing the dry crumbs on his plate with his pen. One hand crumbled up the scribbled-on sheet and stuffed it in one of two bags by his feet- labeled "NO". The other was covered in stickers of animals and cartoon characters and was completely empty.

Writer's block was a bitch.

"Is this chair taken?"

The man looked up to see a young woman with dark hair with one hand rested hesitantly on the seat across from him.

"No." his arm jerked, sending his coffee cup flying to the tiled floor. "Ah, shit!"

As an employee silently rushed to him to clean up the small lukewarm puddle, he began scribbling on a new sheet. "All… beverages… regulated… by… ah, no, that's shit too."

"Are you a writer?" the woman asked. She hadn't even left yet. The man adjusted his smeared glasses and frowned.

"You got any ideas that can land me on the top shelf of the bookstores?"

"Not that I know of. I _have _read many stories in my years, however. Perhaps I can help." and just like that, without asking any further, the woman sat down, careful not to get in the way of the employee scrubbing at the cracks between the tiles. "What's your name?"

"Damb."

"Damn?"

"No, Damb."

"I see." She nodded and caught sight of the bag by his foot spilling over with crumpled paper. "How long have you been here exactly, Mr. Writer?"

"Dunno. Depends on how many cups of coffee I had." Damb shrugged, tapping his pen against his pencil, rolling it across the table littered with notepads and empty plates covered in crumbs. The woman carefully cleared a small space for herself and set her cup of coffee down, steam still trailing out of the tiny hole on the lid. Damb ordered another latte from the employee- who scowled at him for being too lazy to go up to the counter himself- and snatched up a tiny bite-sized bit of a scone he had missed from one of the many plates. "See, I've got two books out already. Neither was that good. You ever read Down by the Fight or Hatching Blows, miss?"

"I think I _have _seen one of them at the last bookstore I visited, but no, I haven't."

"See? No one wants to read them. They sucked, I admit it. But this time, I'm _really _going to blow the critics away." Damb frowned. "But I can't think of anything to write about."

"Have you ever considered drawing inspiration from a life experience?" she asked, slowly sipping from her cup.

"Oh yeah, because people would _die _to read about a little kid who goes fishing for trout every day."

"Elements can always be added in to make even the most boring plots interesting. Giant fish, lake monsters-"

"Lake monsters? You can't be talking about Sea Kings. No one likes Sea Kings."

"But what if people like the thrill?" the woman peered at him over the top of her coffee cup. Damb began tapping his pencil again, not acknowledging the boy who placed his latte before him.

"I got it. How about a haunted mansion with the vengeful ghost of a murder victim hell-bent on killing anyone who steps inside?"

"That plot is overused and cliché. No offense, of course."

"But people like that stuff. You said so."

"Why not try something new?" she smiled, resting her chin on her hand. "How about pirates?"

"Pirates? Hah, the newspapers already take care of that." Damb scoffed. He slurped up his latte, licking the foam around his lips. "Besides, what _is _there to write about those guys besides burning villages and stealing treasure? No one wants to read about those. No one except crazy teens and retired criminals. And even _they _don't read books."

"What about adventure?" the woman's eyes bore into Damb, making him feel slightly uncomfortable. "Adventure and dreams and achieving the impossible…"

"I don't write fantasy."

"What if none of it is fantasy anymore? What if everything you heard in legends is true? Maybe you just haven't been going outside as often as you should."

Damb stared at her blankly. He lowered his voice and leaned forward. "Lady, I am _not _writing about One Piece if that's what you're implying. The Government Officials will have my head if I do."

The woman considered his words for a long moment of silence, slowly finishing off her coffee. Once the cup was empty, she scraped the chair back and stood up. "Well, it's been pleasant conversing with you. I wish you the best of luck on your story, Mr. Writer."

"Thanks." Damb dryly said, picking at his teeth with his pen. "I'll need it." He watched the strange woman leave the café and greet a copper-headed girl loaded with shopping bags before they both set off down the street. Hesitantly, Damb began to scribble on the blank sheet before him.

His hand stopped writing and he shook his head before crushing the filled up paper and dropping it into the bag by his foot.

Damn writer's block.

* * *

What, six more to post? Okay, I'll start posting the ones I did for set 1 after that. SO DON'T RUN OFF JUST YET, KIDDIES.  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	26. Brother

Aaah so close.

* * *

**Title: **Detour from Arabasta

**Theme: **#4- Brother

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **1249

**Rating: **K+ (or T, if blood counts)

**Warning: **None, I suppose.

* * *

There was too much blood.

Robin stumbled and leaned against her knee, her breathing hoarse and her head dizzy. The stab wound had most likely punctured a lung, and the lack of oxygen intake slowed her down one step at a time.

No. She couldn't stop. Not just yet. Monkey D. Luffy owed her.

"Ng!" Robin whimpered as a fresh wave of pain rippled out from the gaping hole just above her right breast. She clutched at the wound with clammy fingers, desperately trying to swipe the blowing sand away from the raw flesh. If she died right there, the Straw Hat boy would never be able to repay her for what he had done.

There. She made it.

Robin weakly lifted up her head and took another wobbly step forward, blood beginning to trickle down her chin to join the stream leaking down her entire front. Only a short walk away, hidden in an obscured harbor, was the Straw Hat Pirates' ship with its cheerful figurehead and rustling sails.

The sails were up. Robin coughed violently, summoned all her remaining energy, and continued limping across the coarse sand against the gritty wind. The sails were up, which meant they would be taking off soon. She hadn't a clue how much time had passed since the rubber boy had dropped her off somewhere outside the city borders. As far as she knew, she had been passed out for days.

Robin choked on blood that began to bubble up her throat. Her chest was on fire, her skin gleamed with perspiration, and yet she shivered as if she were walking through a blizzard. Twitching fingers continued to grope at the stab wound, as if hopelessly attempting to staunch the bleeding.

So close…

With one final step of defiance, Miss All Sunday collapsed to the ground. She was aware of slow, measured footsteps crunching against gravel, approaching her. Robin took short, ragged breaths, not caring that blood and saliva was dribbling down her cheek. Her glazed eyes looked up at the tall figure that stood above her.

"Get away-" Robin coughed before passing out.

Bentham observed his former Vice President, his face impassive and void of any expression. He sported his own fair share of bruises and wounds, but most of these were already bandaged up.

"Captain!" a man wearing a silly pink sundress ran up to him, kicking up sand. "The Straw Hat Pirates are about to debark! We need to lift anchor!"

The okama didn't answer. Silently, he knelt down beside Robin and traced a finger over the trail of dried blood on her chin.

"Captain…" the man in the sundress said uncertainly.

"That settles that. She's coming with us." just as quickly as he had appeared before Robin, Mr. 2 Bon Clay scooped up the injured woman and slung her over his shoulder, careful not to split open the stab wound any further.

"We didn't even discuss anything!" the man in the sundress slapped the okama's shoulder.

"Hmmm? I can't hear youuu~"

"Mr. 2 Bon Clay! Do you know who that woman is?" the man shouted, waving his arms, jogging up to keep up with his captain's long paces.

"Yeah, she's Sunday-chan." Bentham frowned.

"No, that's Nico Robin! The woman with a 79 million bounty beri on her head! We can't take her along with us!"

Bentham stopped walking and leaned down until his nose was inches away from the man's. "A nakama never deserts his nakama, even if they aren't nakama!"

"S-sir! That didn't make any sense at all!"

"Too bad! That's the okama waaaay!~" Mr. 2 Bon Clay sang, prancing off.

The man in the sundress fidgeted for a moment before sprinting after him.

-X-

"Hina taisa!" a Marine yelled. "The Going Merry is headed for the east! This one was just a decoy!"

"I know." Hina said, a vein in her forehead twitching. Bon Clay danced on the railing, laughing gleefully. The rest of his crew, thinly disguised as the other Strawhats, chortled along with their captain.

Bon Clay abruptly stopped dancing and wiped a few tears away. He stared directly at the Marine captain and waved a hand.

_Bring it on._

"You will obstruct us no more." Hina growled as the okama leapt from the railing onto the Marine ship.

-X-

Robin cursed to herself as she stumbled through the hall, her mind still hazy but the stab wound cleaned and patched up. She was well aware that this wasn't Strawhat's ship.

That damn okama.

A cannon explosion threw her off her feet. Robin managed to catch herself on the wall and quickly found her way to the upper deck. A Marine flew overhead, crashing against the mast of the Swanda Express.

Another explosion blew the figurehead right off the flamboyant ship, several bodies falling into the churning waters below. Knowing it would be suicide to stay below deck, Robin stepped outside into the open air.

"Black Cage Hina." Robin muttered to herself, catching sight of the Marine captain and the okama fighting viciously before Mr. 2 Bon Clay was quickly incapacitated by black shackles that bound his limbs together.

As if in slow motion, Hina turned around and locked eyes with Robin.

Robin froze. Part of the deck behind her blew up from a cannon impact, but she hardly noticed. Hina began to approach her, smoke from her cigarette trailing around her head.

"Seis Fleur!" Robin cried out, ignoring the dull throb in her chest. Hina kicked two of the hands away, causing the other woman to wince. The arms that managed to grab her simply passed through, black shackles encasing them. They clattered to the floor as the limbs vanished.

"Demon Child Nico Robin. Hina is pleased." Hina said, swiping at Robin with an outstretched arm. Robin ducked, but Hina anticipated the move, quickly wrapping her other arm around Robin's middle, securely binding her.

The Swanda Express slowly sank into the water in a mess of debris and flames, swallowed by the sea.

-X-

"Kuraaaaa!~" Bon Clay sang, twirling around as best he could with his arms and legs shackled together. "Un, deux, Kuraaaaa!"

"What are _you _so cheerful about?" Robin crossly asked, leaning as far away from the seastone bars as she could.

"Straw-chan managed to get away! I'm so happy that they're safe!" Bon Clay sniffled, tears smearing his mascara.

Robin glared at him.

"Cheer up, Sunday-chan! I'll get both of us out of here!" Bon Clay sat down, peering at her through the bars separating their cells.

"I'll find my own way out. You've done enough."

"But I can't let a nakama risk her own life! We can work together."

"We're not nakama." Robin snapped.

"UWAAAAAH?" Bon Clay exclaimed, falling over. "Stop joooking around!"

"Why do you even want to have anything to do with me? I'm the Demon of Ohara. A wanted criminal."

Bon Clay examined Robin, pursing his brightly colored lips. "You know, we're all still people. Brothers are brothers, sisters are sisters… though of course brothers can be sisters and sisters can be brothers… and we're all human. And then there's okama!"

"Of course." Robin sighed.

"No, no, you don't get it yet!" Bon Clay shook his head. "I don't care that you're a criminal or a demon or whatever. As long as we're in this together, we'll get out together! Okay?"

Robin looked at the okama curiously, her expression less hardened than it had been before. She managed a small smile. "Deal."

* * *

Part 2 to come tomorrow. Tune in, peoples!  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	27. Sunglasses

Okey, here's part deux.

* * *

**Title: **Escape from the Marine Ship

**Theme: **#12- Sunglasses

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **1444

**Rating: **T

**Warnings: **Judging from the time between Arabasta and W7/EL, I'd say that Baroque Works side story takes place a couple weeks _after _the Strawhats left Arabasta. But since I don't really want to do a time-skip, I'll be, uh, skipping those weeks.

* * *

Robin stared through the seastone bars, deep in thought. In the cell adjacent from hers, Bon Clay was rolling around on the floor, making up for his inability to pirouette with the shackles around his legs.

"I'm starving!" Bon Clay declared, sitting up. "Ooooi, guard, bring us food yo!"

The Marine sitting beside the door said nothing, his eyes shadowed by his cap. On the wall above his head hung the keys to the cell doors and the seastone bonds.

"DON'T IGNORE ME, YOU BASTARD!" Bon Clay raged.

"Be quiet." Robin ordered. She muttered something to herself and nodded. "Okay, we're getting out of here."

"You figured out what to do?" Bon Clay raised an eyebrow.

"Just follow my lead." Robin said. She closed her eyes and leaned back. Her fellow prisoner looked confused, but he said nothing.

Momentarily, a bell rang somewhere on the ship. The footsteps of Marines marching to the galley thundered above them along with some shouting. Robin was able to pick out Black Cage Hina's voice above the rest.

"Alright, chow time." Another Marine entered the brig, holding two trays with plates of colorless slop. He shuddered at the sight of Bon Clay's running makeup and Robin's ominous stare.

"My shift's almost over, right?" the other Marine yawned, stretching.

"Yeaaah, I think." He opened a tiny slot at the bottom of the bars and slid the trays into their cells. "Eat up."

"Excuse me, Marine, I hid a coin in my bra earlier and it's really bothering me. Could you get it out?" Robin asked innocently, trying to hold back the bile rising in her throat. It wasn't her favorite method of getting out of tight situations, but it was usually the most effective, unfortunately.

The Marine gulped, his face turning red. Bon Clay snickered, understanding Robin's intention, but neither Marine took notice.

"Y-yeah, sure." The man stuttered. His companion took a key from the hook on the wall and unlocked Robin's cell door. They both approached her, lecherous grins on their faces.

As quick and smooth as a cobra's strike, Robin sprung up from her sitting position and headbutted one of the men. At the same time, her folded legs lashed out, catching the other in the groin.

"Gah!" one of the Marines wheezed, doubling over. The other had fallen to the ground, tears springing up in his eyes.

With a little difficulty, Robin jumped up to her feet and viciously kicked the man, sending him crashing into the cell bars, knocked out cold.

"You…!" the Marine on the ground squeaked, his hands still on his wounded manhood. Robin jumped on top of him and he yelped in surprise.

"What about the seastone, Sunday-chan?" Bon Clay yelled.

"I've got it." Robin replied, crushing the Marine's face against the ground. While he was incapacitated, Robin quickly got out of the cell, towards the keys on the wall. She stretched her neck up and picked one off with her teeth.

"Hurry, quick!" Bon Clay urged. Robin made an annoyed sound and ran back over to see if the key fit in his cell lock. She ignored the ringing in her head from having seastone so close to her face and shoved the key in, clenching her teeth.

As if by sheer dumb luck, the lock clicked and the door creaked open. Bon Clay laughed and sprung out.

"We're freeee!~"

"Not yet." Robin nodded to the two keys left on the wall.

-X-

"Hina taisa, the prisoners got out!" the Baby Den Den Mushi yelled.

"What?" Hina slammed her fork down on the table, upsetting her glass of wine. The Marines around her quieted down, utensils and mugs suspended in midair as they listened in.

"I-It was Nico Robin! Wait, what was that… oh, shit…" the Baby Den Den Mushi's voice quieted down, as if the speaker was talking to someone else.

"What else?" Hina demanded.

"Uh, they got their Seastone shackles off, too."

"FOOLS!" Hina shouted. She set the little snail back on the table and quickly walked to the door. She turned back to the rest of the Marines, who were gaping at her. "Well? Don't just sit there, you idiots!"

"Y-YESSIR, HINA TAISA!" the Marines roared, quickly scrambling up.

-X-

"This one should do nicely." Robin said, nodding towards one of the lifeboats suspended off the side of the ship. It was nearly twenty feet long, plenty of room for two people.

"Okay!" Bon Clay agreed. They both set to untying the ropes and lowering it to the water.

"Going somewhere?"

The two escapees whipped around. Hina was glaring at them, the Marines behind her aiming rifles.

"Gaaahahaha! Funny you should ask…"

"Treinta Fleur." Robin crossed her arms. Immediately, the formation of Marines behind the captain collapsed, strangled by limbs that sprouted from their shoulders and backs.

"Che. Hina is annoyed." Hina narrowed her eyes, ash from her cigarette falling on her shoe.

"Okay! The boat is ready!" Bon Clay announced. He wagged his tongue at Hina and put his thumbs to the side of his head, waving his fingers. "Gaaahahaha!"

"You won't escape me." Hina dashed forward.

"And yet we got away." Robin smiled at the approaching Marine. An arm sprouted from Hina's shoulder and plucked the sunglasses off the top of her head. Caught by surprise, Hina slowed down and the hand tossed it to Robin. She nimbly caught it and waved it at her before leaping overboard. "Bye."

"SWAN ARABESQUE!" While Hina was distracted, Bon Clay managed to land a kick right in her face. She flew back, blood trickling down her nose. "Farewell, my darlings! Gaaahaha!"

Hina scrambled up again and ran to the side of the ship. The lifeboat was already speeding away.

"What the…?" Hina muttered, squinting.

Bon Clay had two oars in his arms and was paddling as fast as he could at the back, acting like some sort of motor. Several arms were rowing as well along the sides. Foamy water sprayed behind them in an arc.

And there, standing at the front of the boat, wearing the Marine captain's sunglasses, was Nico Robin.

She caught sight of Hina staring at them and waved, smiling.

-X-

Once the Marine ship was well out of sight, Robin and Bon Clay stopped rowing and set up the makeshift sail made from some tarp they found beneath the benches to let the wind propel them. The okama grinned brightly.

"So where to, Sunday-chan?"

"Don't call me that." Robin shook her head, her eyes obscured behind the dark sunglasses. She lounged back and folded her arms behind her head. "I'm not Miss All Sunday anymore. I'm just Robin."

"Mmm? Then I guess I'm Bentham."

"Very well… Okama-san." Robin smiled. "As for our next destination, I guess we'll just have to wait and see when the next island will turn up, no?"

"Sounds like fun!"

* * *

Part 3 to come tomorrow!  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	28. Den Den Mushi

Part 3, here is.

**

* * *

**

**Title: **Intermission at the Marine Base

**Theme: **Den Den Mushi

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **1367

**Rating: **T

**Warnings: **Off-screen nudity (no, sorry, I'm not kidding this time).

* * *

The sun shone brightly above the metal lifeboat, heating the vessel as well as the calm surface of the water. The wind had died down a while ago, causing the boat to stop moving and simply drift along with the gentle waves.

Bentham lightly tapped Robin's cheek. She frowned and groggily swatted him away. Unperturbed, Bentham continued tapping her until she woke up.

"Is there something wrong?" Robin asked, rather irritated, Hina's sunglasses still perched on her head.

"There's an island there." Bentham pointed over her head, his expression unusually serious. Robin sat up and turned around.

Sure enough, a little less than a mile away, was a little blob on the horizon. Robin narrowed her eyes. The silhouette was much too tall and narrow to be a normal landmass. It was a Marine base.

"Maybe we shouldn't stop there." Bentham said, rummaging around beneath the benches for the emergency supply of canned water.

"No. We need to. With what we have here, we wouldn't last another day on the open sea." Robin said, staring straight ahead at the distant base. "We need to steal a ship, maybe a Log Pose."

"Are you crazy?" Bentham's eyes bugged out. "We just got away from those other Marines!"

"So who's to say we can't get away again?" Robin shrugged. Several arms grabbed oars and began rowing towards the Marine base.

-X-

Somewhere, seas away, a dinosaur carrying a man, woman, and girl flew above the clouds. The woman clutched her lemon yellow umbrella while the man clung tightly to the flying creature's leg. The girl seemed, for the most part, completely relaxed on the back of the dinosaur.

-X-

"Find an unattended ship and I'll meet up with you as soon as possible. I'll search for a map or a Log Pose." Robin said quietly as they steered the boat to a secluded cliff behind the large complex.

"Okay! If you need any help, just call for me!" Bentham nodded. The boat bumped up against a dirt overhang and they jumped out onto solid land. Robin slipped away to the side while Bentham ran off in the opposite direction.

"Man, Hina taisa sounded pretty pissed."

Robin ducked behind a tree. Two Marines passed by her, talking.

"Yeah. I heard that she…" their voices faded as they walked away.

Without sparing another minute, Robin entered the Marine base. Several eyes kept her posted on the locations of passing Marines as well as the surveillance Den Den Mushis stuck on the walls.

The first one she encountered was a little green snail that lazily swept its eyes across the hall, yawning. An arm sprouted above it and grabbed the transmitter off its shell, causing the snail to jerk in surprise. The hand crushed the device, letting it crumble to the floor. Robin stepped out and paused beneath the Den Den Mushi. It stared back at her with half-lidded eyes.

Robin blinked and continued deeper into the Marine base.

-X-

Bentham chortled silently to himself. He found the docks where the ships were, but there were a few Marines on patrol. The little one at the very end would do. Bentham put on a straight face and tapped his cheek, transforming.

"Hello, boys." He said in a sultry voice, the pink coat hanging loosely off his- her- shoulders. The Marines jumped in surprise.

"Ma'am, this is a restricted area, I'm afraid we-" he froze as the woman brushed up against him. Bentham struggled to hold in his laughter.

"I just need to borrow a ship for a while." Bentham purred. The coat threatened to slip off completely.

"Uh, we, uh, can't let you do… that…"

Bentham let the coat pool around his- her- feet. The group of Marines roared and fell backwards, blood jetting out of their noses.

"HAHA! OKAMA KENPO!" Bentham laughed, turning back into his regular appearance and attacking the dazed Marines.

-X-

Robin had found a small office. It was quite tidy and had only a small desk, a chair, and a bookcase filled with leather-bound books and atlases. If she had more time, Robin would have loved to go through them.

After ruffling through some papers and searching through drawers, Robin managed to find a map of the surrounding islands. She rolled it up and pocketed it.

"BLEEE! BLEEE! BLEEE!"

Robin stepped back in surprise as the red Den Den Mushi that had been sleeping on the desk began screeching, red lights going off everywhere. She cursed inwardly. They must have noticed them.

"HERE! IN HERE!" shouting came from the closed door. She was cornered. The door slammed open and she found several rifles pointed at her, cocked and ready.

"Oh dear." Robin sighed.

"Don't move!" the Marines yelled. Robin's arm twitched and her other limbs did the work for her, knocking rifles out of firm grips and twisting necks and joints.

"BLEEE! BLEEE! BLEEE!"

"Quiet." Robin shot at the Den Den Mushi. To her surprise, it looked back at her and stopped blaring in her ear.

She wasted no time maneuvering around the strangled and twisted Marines and sprinting towards the docks.

-X-

"GAAHAHA!" Bentham laughed maniacally, dancing around, preparing the ship for departure. Two hands grabbed onto the railing, followed by another two, and another two, until Robin pulled herself aboard. "Aah, Sunday-chan, you made it!"

"Let's go." Robin briefly said, glancing behind her. The sirens were still wailing loudly. They probably didn't even have a minute left.

"Okay!" Bentham leapt across the deck and raised the anchor. Almost immediately, the ship lurched and began to move.

"DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!"

"Ochenta Fleur!"

A wind blew through the formation of Marines, followed by the grotesque sound of dozens of spines and limbs snapping simultaneously. The loud screams of pain followed the stolen ship as they sailed away from the base, which had red lights going off at the top of the tallest watch tower.

"We made iiiit!" Bentham cheered, twirling.

"They're going to start firing cannons." Robin panted, rubbing her arms.

"THOSE BASTARDS!" Bentham yelled.

"We can make it. They won't stop us." Robin said, taking on a determined stance. "We already made it this far."

The okama beamed. "That's the spirit!"

Seconds later, cannons began to fire off. Bentham leapt into the air, kicking away most of them while Robin set up shields of arms that made them bounce away harmlessly.

"Okama-san! Steer the ship, I can handle the cannonfire!" Robin shouted.

"Stop joooking aro-"

"Go!"

Bentham hesitantly ran off to get the drifting ship under control. More cannons collided with Robin's arms, making her wince. There would probably be bruises later.

"KURAAAAH!" Bentham roared, spinning the wheel around. The ship immediately veered to the right, away from the Marine base. The cannons began to fall into the water and the network of arms disappeared.

"YAAAAY!" Bentham cried, grabbing Robin in a tight hug. He noticed her discomfort and backed off.

"My arms…" Robin looked down at them. There were dark bruises already beginning to bloom. She shook her head. "No. Forget about that."

"But-"

"I got a map." Robin quickly changed the subject. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the wrinkled map, unrolling it. "The next stop… Kyuuka Island."

-X-

Two days later, a seagull dropped two pieces of paper on the deck of the ship, which had probably gotten stuck on its foot. Robin quickly scooped them up before they could blow away.

She blinked.

"Okama-san?"

"Yeeeees?"

"What is this?"

"Mm?" Bentham twirled over and peered over her shoulder. He broke out into a big grin. "I got a bounty poster yo! 32 million! Gaaahahaha!"

"And this?" she motioned to the other poster.

It was Robin, a crazy grin on her face and a nearly maniacal spark in her eye. She was peering over her shoulder, but it was evident she was topless.

"Aah, uh, about that." Bentham laughed nervously. "Your bounty didn't go any higher!"

"No, but they updated the photo I see."

"I was fighting those Marines at the dock! Someone must have taken a photo yo! It wasn't my fault!"

Robin laughed. "Well, as long as you put your powers to good use…"

"THAT WAS COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED!"

* * *

Part 4 tomorrowwww *falls over*.  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	29. Steel

Woo, almost there!

* * *

**Title: **Confusion at Kyuuka Island

**Theme: **#18- Steel

**Claim:** Robin

**Words: **1540

**Rating: **T

**Warnings: **Possible plot holes (Quick! Say that 10 times fast!).

* * *

"Spin! Spin! Spin for joy!" Bentham sang, whirling around on the deck of the Marine ship. Robin leaned against the railing, observing the map. They couldn't be far from Kyuuka Island- they had already been sailing for a day and a half.

She really had no idea why she kept the okama with her. He was persistently cheerful, annoyingly flamboyant, and constantly attempted to teach Robin how to dance. The problem was Robin had suddenly realized she _would _care if the okama were to be killed in the line of fire or if it were by the means of betrayal. It was unnerving to come to the realization that Robin was becoming slightly attached to her fellow escapee.

Her impenetrable steel walls were beginning to rust, kicked down by a weird okama.

It was a frightening thought.

-X-

"Well, this is it." Robin said, taking in their surroundings. Behind them, the unmanned Marine ship was slowly drifting away. It was unexplainable, but they both somehow knew they wouldn't need it anymore.

"So now what?" Bentham asked, pirouetting on the grass. Robin closed her eyes. The sound of human activity was a distance away, maybe a mile or so.

Robin began to set off towards that direction.

"O-oi! Are you leaving already, Nico-chan?" Bentham's face fell and he stopped spinning. Robin looked back at him. He looked uncannily similar to a puppy being abandoned by its owner.

Robin offered a tiny smile. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

Bentham immediately lit up again. He pranced after Robin, singing at full volume until Robin told him to be quiet. They made their way through the thick foliage, keeping their ears peeled for any approaching movement. The sound of people still remained far off.

Then, out of nowhere, they bumped into a hunched over man emerging from the trees.

He stared at them.

They stared at him.

"M-Mr. 2 Bon Clay! Miss All Sunday!" he wheezed in horror, scrambling backwards.

"Mr. 3?" Robin tilted her head curiously.

"Oi oi, you, what are you doing?" Bentham reached over and grabbed the front of Mr. 3's shirt.

"I'm getting the hell out of here, that's what I'm doing! This place is crawling with Marines!" Mr. 3 hissed, nervously glancing around.

"Marines?" Robin perked up in alarm. Just how often were they going to encounter them?

"It's _Black Cage Hina!_" Mr. 3 waved his arms wildly. "They've already got Miss Valentine and-"

"So you're not even going to try to help her?" Bentham shook him.

"Of course not! I don't stand a chance against them!" Mr. 3 exclaimed.

Robin fingered the sunglasses on the top of her head, pushing them down over her eyes. "Let's go, then."

"Hey, I have no idea why _you _guys are here, but go ahead without me!" Mr. 3 said. "I'm not sticking around to see what happens!"

"A nakama never deserts his nakama!" Bentham shouted in his face.

"We're not nakama!" Mr. 3 protested, trembling in fear. Bentham straightened up, his expression dark. Robin silently hung behind him, the sunglasses shadowing her face.

"O-oi…" Mr. 3 nervously said.

-X-

"HEEEELP!" Miss Valentine screamed, tied to the center of an enormous wooden "X" that the Marines had quickly constructed. "HEEEEELP!"

"Hina taisa, she's getting annoying…" Fullbody muttered.

"Hina _knows _that, you fool." Hina scowled.

"Ah! W-we're sorry!" Jango and Fullbody cried out simultaneously. Hina pinched the bridge of her nose and impatiently paced back and forth. Where were those accomplices? Surely they wouldn't let one of their own be executed.

"W-w-waaait! Nooo!"

Hina whipped around in surprise. A wagon with a man tied up on it came zipping towards them. He was screaming bloody murder, thrashing so violently the wagon nearly tipped over.

"Ooohooh!" Jango bent over the trussed up man. The hypnotist pulled out a wrinkled bounty poster from his coat pocket and compared the photo to the face. "It's Mr. 3, another Baroque Works agent! Isn't this convenient?"

"Odd…" Hina muttered. She plucked up a small note that had been attached to the wagon and read it out loud. "_'I give up'. _What?"

"That's right… GAAHAHA!" Mr. 3 suddenly burst out of the ropes, leaping into the air.

"What the hell is this?" Fullbody yelled.

"The okama!" Hina tore off her coat.

"H-Hina taisaaa…"

Hina looked to the side to see six arms holding Jango in a painful position.

"Crap! Jango!" Fullbody started towards him before being intercepted by another six arms.

"HEEEELP!" Miss Valentine picked up her screaming again when she noticed the commotion. Two figures, one half as tall as the other, slipped out of the bushes and started towards her.

"No matter what you are… man, woman, whatever… we're all still human, and so we look out for each other! Okama way!" Bentham shouted, preparing for battle. "Bring it on, Marine-chan!"

"Che…" Hina scowled, crushing her cigarette beneath her shoe.

-X-

"We should hurry." Miss Goldenweek said, watching the Marine captain and the okama fight.

"I KNOW!" Mr. 5 yelled, fumbling with the shackles. Finally, out of frustration, he blew them up.

"Hey! Watch the arms!" Miss Valentine shouted.

"ESCAAAAPE!" Mr. 5 roared as he and Miss Goldenweek sprinted away, carrying Miss Valentine above their heads.

-X-

"OWAH!" Bentham fell to the ground, blood dribbling down his chin. Hina glared down at him in disgust. Marines around her were groaning in pain, their bodies twisted at awkward angles.

"Dos fleur."

Two hands immediately grabbed Hina's neck, constricting her windpipe. Hina calmly turned to see Robin, her arms crossed and fists clenched.

"That won't work." Hina said. The hands passed through her neck, trapped by large shackles.

"Are they steel?" Robin suddenly asked. The extra arms vanished and the thick rings fell to the dirt.

"What?"

"I'm curious. The restraints you produce, are they steel?" Robin repeated, not moving from her spot. There was no turning back.

"Iron." Hina answered, narrowing her eyes. She thrust out an arm and bars emerged, speeding right at the Demon Child. They wrapped around her body shoulders to knees, nearly knocking her off balance.

"Mascara Boomerang!" Bentham had pulled himself up and threw his mascara at Hina. They cut her back, leaving two deep gashes. A few of the iron bars melted away, freeing Robin's legs. "Run, Nico-chan!"

Robin ignored Bentham and closed her eyes, concentrating. An arm sprouted from Hina's shoulder and punched her, causing her to loosen her grip on Robin. Bentham spun through the air and attacked once more, little streams of blood flying through the air.

Hina leapt aside and threw Robin to the ground. She raised her arms and swiped at Bentham, trapping his arms against his body.

"Run! Get away from here!" Bentham yelled as Hina kicked him away. She turned to Robin.

"You're not getting away again!"

"Go! Nico-chan!"

Robin hesitated. If she left, Bentham had no hope of escape. This time, there wasn't any way out for both of them. But for her alone…

"I'm not running away. Not this time." Robin gritted her teeth. Bentham gaped at her.

"A wise choice, Nico Robin." Hina descended upon the other woman, ready to beat her down. Just a split second from impact, Bentham headbutted her out of the way.

"It's okay to run! You just need to get to safety! So RUN!" Bentham yelled at Robin.

"You said that nakama don't leave each other." Robin snapped. "So stop babbling and let me fight as well."

Bentham opened and closed his mouth, lost for words. To the side, Hina stood up, obviously pissed off.

"We're probably going to be captured for good this time." Robin said, crossing her arms.

"Oh yeah." Bentham grinned.

"Hina is done fooling around." The Marine captain growled. Robin put on the sunglasses she had stolen from Hina and Bentham clenched his fists, grinning widely.

-X-

"TAKE THAT, BITCH! KYAHAHA!" Miss Valentine laughed with glee, waving her umbrella at the receding island. Marines around them meekly went about with their work, black marks painted on their uniforms.

"Oh, man, that was too close." Mr. 5 panted, pacing back and forth.

"What happened to the others?" Miss Goldenweek asked. The other two looked at her questioningly. "You know- the okama, tall lady, and Mr. 3."

"They got left behind." Miss Valentine shrugged.

"Should we try to save them?"

"Nah, they'll be fine." Mr. 5 said.

-X-

"Well, that was fun." Bentham grinned brightly, his mouth bleeding profusely and one of his eyes bruised. He was wrapped up entirely in iron restraints. Behind him was Mr. 3, who was freaking out.

"I DON'T WANNA GO TO JAIL!" he wailed.

"BUT AS LONG AS WE'RE TOGETHER-" Bentham began.

"OH, SHUT UP!"

Hina entered the room, watching the three prisoners through the seastone bars. This time, she had stationed six guards in the brig completely armed with rifles.

Robin was sitting as close as she could handle to the bars. Her arms were purple from countless bruises and several of her nails had been broken or torn out completely. She smiled at Hina and the Marine scowled.

"Hina wants her sunglasses back." Hina reached through the bars and grabbed the sunglasses from Robin's head.

"It was fun while it lasted."

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Final part and chapter tomorrow. :O  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


	30. Water

Okey, it's all here and I'm DONE. Now to work on the other set...

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**Title: **To the End of the Circle

**Theme: **#11- Water

**Claim: **Robin

**Words: **1451

**Rating: **K+

**Warning: **Off-screen action (because frankly, I'm incredibly lazy).  
Part 5 of Robin and Bon Clay's adventure! And I'm done!

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The sun was especially harsh today, burning Robin's skin and turning the lukewarm sea into a blinding mirror. She sat beneath a tattered sail, sweating and trying not to slip into unconsciousness.

That damn okama. That _damn _okama. She should have figured that he wouldn't listen to her and hold fast to his obscure okama philosophy. Even after throwing her unceremoniously on a lifeboat to face Hina's wrath alone (Mr. 3 hadn't even bothered crawling out of his cell, the coward), Robin refused to loosen her multi-armed grip on the side of the ship. And yet, even though Robin had made it clear she wasn't about to run off alone, Bentham remained steadfast and kicked her arms, launching the lifeboat away in the midst of a violent rainstorm.

Robin shifted uncomfortably, her throat burning. The sail did little to protect her from the sun (or catch what little wind there was). The lifeboat was ill-equipped, with only two cans of freshwater, a blunt hook, half a life-jacket, and three oars aboard. It was much smaller than the first lifeboat she and Bentham had used in their first escape, too.

Minutes passed. Or maybe it was hours. It was hard to tell. Robin was in the middle of nowhere. There was no doubt that Bentham had been recaptured yet again. Black Cage Hina was already probably searching for her. The lifeboat had probably drifted quite a distance, considering the violence of the storm that had just vanished the moment daylight broke.

Even so, Robin felt as if she were waiting on death row, surrounded by nothing but the ocean with nothing to keep her alive for more than a day.

Water, water, everywhere.

She was drowning, clawing at the bubbles, sinking down below.

Someone was laughing.

Were they laughing at her?

Everywhere, tearing at her lungs and couldn't breathe and-

Water-

Robin jerked upright. It was raining again, but it wasn't like the storm from last night. She had fallen asleep with the cloth plastered against her nose. Robin mentally kicked herself; her carelessness could have caused her to die in her sleep. Several arms tore the damp sail away, allowing the drizzle to hit her parched skin.

Robin stared at her feet. Her situation was bleak. She was either going to perish by the hands of the ocean, or be discovered by Marines. Or pirates. Or anyone else. But it didn't really matter _who _found her. Either way, she was going to die.

"_Shishishi!"_

Her ears perked up, carefully listening over the pattering of the light rain. That was laughter. Was she finally going crazy?

No. More arms grabbed the oars and began rowing towards the indistinct shape of a ship hardly far from her location. Upon closer inspection, Robin realized it wasn't far at all- it was just a really small ship.

With a ram figurehead.

The arms stopped rowing and Robin stared at it. Of _all _the ships she could have encountered on the endless waters, it had to be _that _ship. Unconsciously, she touched the barely-healed wound on her chest.

_"Shishishi!"_

Her lifeboat bumped against the hull of the Going Merry. Silently, Robin summoned what little energy she had left and climbed aboard by a ladder of legs. Once her feet touched solid wood, her head began to spin and she collapsed.

-X-

"Guys, stop throwing that!" Nami held up her newspaper, deflecting a ball of rolled-up socks. It bounced off and landed on the table, inches away from Zoro's face. He snorted in his sleep and swatted the sockball away, wrinkling his nose.

"The rain isn't even _that _bad. Let's go outside to play!" Luffy said, snatching up the sockball.

"Throw it back, Luffy!" Chopper called from the opposite side of the kitchen, jumping up and down. He suddenly stopped bouncing and paused, ears twitching. "Did you hear something?"

"It's just the rain and wind." Sanji said carelessly as he tossed spices into a large pot.

"No, it wasn't that." Chopper went over to the door and pressed his ear against the wood. "I can hear something else."

"Ooooh. Maybe it's a GHOST!" Usopp waved his hands in Chopper's face, making the young reindeer squeak and pull his hat over his eyes. Usopp's eyes widened. "What if it _is _a ghost? Aaaugh!"

"Guys!" Nami slammed the newspaper on the table, waking Zoro. "Okay, Chopper, if you really hear something, I'll go check."

"No! They're going to suck your soul out! Nooo!" Usopp wailed, clutching his chest.

"Gah, what are you screaming about now?" Zoro groaned, yawning. "So what is it, Nami? Nothing?"

Nami didn't respond. She was staring out the porthole.

"Nami?" Zoro stood up. Luffy dropped his sockball and looked over, smile gone.

"Guys, someone's out there." Nami slowly said, backing away. "I think they're dead."

-X-

Robin woke up, covered in a clean sheet and her head slightly fuzzy. There was a bright light above her and she winced slightly.

"Guys! She's awake!" a high-pitched voice called out beside her. Robin tried to move, but found her bruised arms hurt like a bitch.

"Alright, talk!" a girl stomped over to the bedside and glared in Robin's face. "What are _you _doing here, and how did you find us?"

"I thought you were dead." Monkey D. Luffy entered the room, his face blank.

"I thought so too." Robin weakly laughed.

"Answer my question!" the redhead yelled. "Baroque Works!"

"Oh? You're still upset about that?" Robin asked, racking through her memories for the Strawhat crewmembers' names.

"You were severely dehydrated and malnourished. When was the last time you ate?" the reindeer asked. For some reason, Robin wasn't so surprised that it could talk.

"A while ago…" Robin trailed off. She hadn't touched the food that the Marines had supplied during their time in captivity, and sweating in the sun for hours hadn't done her any good either. The reindeer reached over for a glass of water, but the redhead- Nami, Robin remembered- stopped him.

"Not until she answers me."

"At least let her drink and eat a little!" the reindeer protested.

"Chopper." Nami looked at him. "You don't know what she did. She tried to help kill Vivi. She's our _enemy_."

"No. I don't think she is." Luffy spoke up. The other three Strawhats had crowded in the infirmary. Robin counted each of them off mentally. Zoro. Usopp. Sanji. Only Sanji didn't wear an expression of suspicion. For the most part, he looked positively ecstatic.

"What?" Nami whipped around.

"She's not a bad guy. Really!" Luffy smiled. "I think we can trust her."

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Nami began shaking him. "She was CROCODILE'S partner!"

"Yeah, so? You were Arlong's navigator, right? And you're not evil."

Zoro snorted, but was silenced by Nami's glare.

"So can she stay?" Sanji asked hopefully.

"SANJI-KUN!"

"Guys, enemy watching us…" Usopp said nervously, edging towards the door.

"She's not evil!"

"She's our enemy, Luffy." Zoro said sternly. "Once we reach the next island, we're dropping her off."

"Rather than turning me in? I'm touched." Robin said.

"We're wanted too." Zoro scowled.

"Wait a minute…" Luffy began counting something off on his fingers. He ran to the side of the bed and shook it, looking desperately at Robin. "Bon-chan! Do you know what happened to Bon-chan? Did he get away? Is he okay?"

"He…" Robin closed her eyes and smiled. "I don't know. We were separated not too long ago."

"You were with him!" Luffy's eyebrows rose.

"Yes." Lights danced behind her eyelids. It almost looked like they were spinning. Spinning with their arms above their heads and one leg suspended.

"Okay, you can stay with us."

"LUFFY!" Nami, Zoro, and Usopp yelled.

"A friend of Bon-chan is a friend of ours. Besides, like I said, she's a nice lady!" Luffy insisted.

"If she tries _anything_…" Nami muttered as she, Usopp, and Zoro left, each evidently disgruntled. Sanji twirled around for a few minutes before going off to find Nami. Luffy sat down beside Robin.

"Bon-chan got caught, huh?" Luffy asked, picking his nose. Chopper was examining one of Robin's bruised arms for any fractures or other internal wounds.

"He was captured after he saved me." Robin nodded.

"So why'd he save you?"

Robin blinked in mild surprise at his straightforward question.

"He sacrificed himself for us, and then for you." Luffy said. He didn't seem upset, just curious. Robin stared up at the ceiling, thinking back to the times Bentham had tried to make her run away for her own safety at his own expense. She was done running. She wasn't going to play coward anymore and hide behind others, never fighting for herself. No more of that.

"That's the Okama Way… Captain-san."

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Wait! Don't go yet! There's still the other set- Nami+Sanji+Robin, which I will be posting shortly.  
So yeah... heed my advertisement and check that one out. Ooooh.  
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.


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